Corvallis High senior bids for back-to-back state championships

Bo Christianson speaks softly, his words polite and thoughtful.

He’s well-mannered and clean-cut.

Get him on the wrestling mat and he becomes a beast. He will grind you into submission and shake your hand when it’s over.

Even his Corvallis High teammates aren’t immune when they take the mat against Christianson.

“He’s the guy you don’t want to be wrestling with because he just works you over,” Daryl Watkins said. “He’s pretty soft-spoken, but he gets a lot of his aggression from that, I think. He holds a lot of stuff in and then he just tears you up on the mat.”

Christianson won the state 5A title last year as a junior, defeating Ryan Barton of Hermiston 5-1 in the title match.

The title run took a level of dedication and focus that Christianson admitted he didn’t put into the sport as a freshman and sophomore.

He said he floated through those seasons, but made the decision to change after his sophomore year. He trained harder, pushing himself in workouts and in developing additional skills.

“Since I was younger, I’ve always been my own worst enemy,” Christianson said. “I haven’t pushed myself and last year I kind of broke that. I know what I need to do now.”

Success is no stranger to Christianson. He began learning wrestling skills as a 5-year-old and spent summer after summer at wrestling camps. It wasn’t long before he brought home a trophy.

Then another. And another.

He branched into a variety of styles. When he was 12, Christianson won national championships in Greco-Roman, freestyle and sambo.

He won a national title in collegiate-style wrestling when he was 13. It was his fifth national title in four styles.

Those years established the foundation for Christianson’s high school career. He hasn’t experienced as much burnout because his athletic focus is on football in the fall and he played other sports throughout his youth.

His talents are on the mat.

“It’s been one of the biggest parts of my life. It’s played a very big role. I’ve taken very big strides since I was younger,” he said. “I take it much more seriously. I happen to be more self-motivated now, taking actions into my own hands and just being more responsible for things since I’m older. When I was younger, my dad helped me out a lot more and pushed me a lot more. Now I’m a lot more self-oriented.”

Christianson most likely will be able to land a college scholarship because of his wrestling prowess. He said Oregon State would be a great program to join and Stanford has stayed in touch.

No doubt more schools will be contacting Christianson this year, particularly if he wins a second title.

“I would really love to wrestle for Oregon State if they wanted me,” he said. “I’m just kind of open when it comes to college. Got a letter from Stanford and right after I won my state finals match, a recruiter came up and was talking to my father.”

For now, the goal is to repeat as state champion.

Helping him in the CHS wrestling room will be Watkins — who is currently nursing an injury — and Abe Siala.

Christianson said Siala is ranked third at 152 pounds, but will wrestle at 145.

“He’s a great partner. He beats me a lot of the time and he just makes me push myself,” Christianson said. “He’s telling me to do stuff better, which is what I need because I haven’t had that in the past a while. So Abe has been a great partner and so has Daryl Watkins. He tells me what I’m doing right and wrong and just really pushes me and that’s what I’ve needed.”

The road could be filled with more potholes than last year. Christianson won’t sneak up on anyone and every wrestler will want a shot at the champion.

“This year it needs to be amped up a bit. It just needs to be a little more than last year,” Christianson said. “I’m going to do my best this year. I can’t overlook anybody because people know me. They’re going to be after me. That’s the sport of wrestling is you get surprised and I don’t want to be one of those guys.”