Eastern’s Sparks reaches title match, helps Mountaineers take 12th at nationals; Orozco adds third all-American honor

Published 8:30 am Monday, March 6, 2023

PARK CITY, Kansas — Hunter Sparks went further at the NAIA national wrestling tournament than any Eastern Oregon men’s wrestler had since the program’s reinstatement when he reached the championship round of the 125-pound bracket Saturday, March 4.

He also came close to winning that championship match, but had to settle for second in the bracket when he suffered a close 5-4 loss to Life University’s Brandon Orum when the senior scored a one-point escape with six seconds remaining in the match to even the score at 4-4. Orum had preserved enough riding time to gain a bonus point and win the championship.

There was an added element to the final as Sparks, a transfer to EOU from Life, was wrestling partners with Orum during his time there.

“I knew he likes to scramble, and he is really good at scrambling,” Sparks said. “I had to finish clean and on my feet. I was more offensive, I was pushing the tempo. I got in on a shot early, he scrambled and got to my legs.”

Orum, the second seed in the weight class, scored that takedown of Sparks early in the opening round, and took a 2-1 lead into the second round of the title match. An escape by Sparks in the second evened the score, but Orum already had accrued close to two minutes of riding time as the on-top wrestler. He preserved that time with an escape early in the third round and, more importantly, took a 3-2 lead with the escape.

Sparks stayed in the match — and briefly took a 4-3 lead — when he scored a takedown with 21 seconds remaining, but Orum made his title-winning escape 15 seconds later.

“The difference in the match was that second round when I went down, he got some legs in and held me down and (was) racking up that riding time,” Sparks said.

Despite the setback, the EOU junior capped an impressive run at nationals, one that saw him take down the top-ranked wrestler and defending champion in the weight class on the way to the championship match.

Sparks, who was the fourth seed at 125 pounds, opened the tournament Friday with a pin of Seth I’nama of Briar Cliff, then scored a 12-0 major decision over a Cascade Collegiate Conference foe, Brayden Boyd of Corban. In the quarterfinals, Sparks edged Southeastern’s Isaac Corwell 8-3 to cap a perfect Friday and set up a Saturday morning showdown with Grand View’s Esco Walker.

A strong third period provided Sparks with what he needed for the upset. Sparks had initially taken a 2-0 lead in the match, but Walker flipped the score and went ahead 3-2 after an escape and takedown in the second round.

“I think the biggest thing was the tempo of the match,” Sparks said of the semifinal. “As long as I kept attaching and wearing him down I knew getting into the end fot ehs second and late third my conditioning would kick in.”

Sparks chose bottom to start the final round, then 19 seconds into it reversed his way into a 4-3 lead. He never relinquished the top spot, and added a bonus ride-time point for the 5-3 win and the matchup with Orum.

“Looking back on the whole tournament I can say I’m proud of myself. All my thanks goes to God. He has changed my life for the better, and made a lot of differences to allow me to compete well.”

Sparks’ effort helped the Mountaineers to a 12th-place finish at nationals, the Mountaineers’ best since reinstatement. EOU finished with 42 points, just three points outside the top 10.

“Proud of the guys (and) the way we competed,” EOU head coach Dustyn Azure said. “The tournament gets tougher every year. All of them battled every match they were in. We had some heartbreakers…but on the whole we wrestled well.”

Sparks and Noel Orozco, who placed sixth at 285 pounds, combined to score 31 of EOU’s points. The two finished as all-Americans, which marked a milestone for Orozco as he became a three-time all-American — the first in the program since its reinstatement.

“He has done a lot for this program,” Azure said of Orozco. “He has helped establish it. He is a huge asset to the program. He’s going to be missed.”

Orozco had a busy weekend that saw him overcome an early loss to ultimately go 5-3 to place sixth. Orozco won his first match, a 2-0 decision over Darron Harvey of Central Baptist, and after a loss in the second round by fall to Life’s Austin Harris, the third seed, he bounced back with three wins in a row to close the day Friday, most importantly a 3-2 decision over Hunter Dejong of Morningside in the blood round to be named an all-American.

“(I) had to gather myself and keep fighting bak one match at a time,” he said. “Took it slow knowing it’s my last season. I wanted to make sure I went out there and had fun with it and enjoy the moment.”

The 14th-seed continued his run Saturday morning with a 3-1 sudden victory over Earnest Johnson of Keiser before dropping his final two matches.

Orozco said the honor had a different feel this time, being not only his senior year but competing much of the season with a torn labrum.

“Hurt it in the first tournament. (It) took me out until January, (and I) kind of lost a little of my confidence (in the shoulder),” he said. “Had to work toward being confident again. I had to learn how to trust my shoulder and that it was going to hold up.”

Two wrestlers, including EOU all-time wins leader Keegan Mulhill, came within one victory of all-American status, but just missed out.

“Those are always heartbreakers losing in the blood round there,” Azure said.

Mulhill dropped his first match to Morningside’s Alex Vandyke at 174. He rattled off three wins in a row, including pins of Kolbe Madron of Oklahoma City and Joey Ewalt of Baker, but in the blood round fell to Southeastern’s Douglas Peppers.

“Another senior that we’re going to miss,” Azure said. “This senior group is close to my heart.”

La Grande’s own Braden Carson won two matches at 133 and came within a victory of being an all-American. After an early loss, he earned a 6-1 decision over Taylor Vasquez of Morningside and a 4-2 decision over the No. 2 seed Jacob Ruiz of Life before dropping a 10-4 decision to Menlo’s Jovan Garcia, ending his tournament at 2-2.

“For a true freshman to go that far in such a loaded weight class is amazing,” Azure said. “There are some hammers in that weight class.”

Jay Smith and Marco Retano both won a match in the 197 bracket.