Tribal Government & News

Moses Mercier wins second consecutive state wrestling title

03.03.2020 Dean Rhodes People
Willamina/Falls City wrestler and Tribal member Moses Mercier receives his championship medal after winning the finals of the Class 3A 120-pound division in the OSAA State Wrestling Tournament held at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland on Saturday, Feb. 29. (Photo by Timothy J. Gonzalez/Smoke Signals)

By Dean Rhodes

Smoke Signals editor

PORTLAND – When Tribal member and Willamina High School junior Moses Mercier stepped on to the wrestling mat at Memorial Coliseum in Portland on the evening of Saturday, Feb. 29, he must have felt a little déjà vu.

Last year, Mercier defeated La Pine’s Dylan Mann to win his first state wrestling championship at 113 pounds.

Wrestling now at 120 pounds, Mercier looked into the eyes of the same opponent and faced a tougher match.

Last year, he pinned Mann in 42 seconds. This year, he wrestled all three two-minute rounds and won a 6-3 decision.

Although it was a big win, perhaps the biggest victory for Mercier at the Class 3A state wrestling championships occurred in the morning’s semifinals when he faced Yamhill-Carlton senior Jakob Jarvis, who had beaten him twice before this year.

Mercier had lost to Jarvis during a match in December and 3-1 at the district finals a few weeks earlier.

“That was definitely the big match,” said Willamina wrestling coach Ariah Fasana. “They were definitely the two best wrestlers in that weight class.”

Mercier, however, won a 9-3 decision to qualify for the finals.

Fasana said he felt fairly confident that Mercier would win the final match since he had beaten Mann in mid-January.

Mercier finished the year 41-7 and now has a chance to become a three-time state champ for Willamina High with one more year of eligibility remaining.

Fasana said only two other wrestlers have been three-time champs or better for Willamina. Shonn Leno was a three-time champ and his brother Dustin was a four-time champ in the early 1990s.

In 2018 as a freshman, Mercier finished fifth in the state at 113 pounds.