PORTLAND - Despite taking up wrestling only two years ago, Corvallis High's Anthony Emmons has proven to be a fast learner.

The senior 215-pounder will wrestle for a state title tonight after earning a 7-1 decision over Cleveland's Jay Lowe in Friday night's semifinals. He will face No. 1 seeded Dan Lee of Mazama.

"I didn't expect this at all when I started wrestling (to be competiting for a state title)," Emmons said. "I wasn't even expecting to make state. So this feels great."

CHS coach Ron Sather isn't surprised at all by Emmons' rapid progression as a wrestler. He credited Emmons' strong work ethic.

"Since he joined the program, he's never stopped working hard," Sather said. "He's in the room every day. He doesn't take time off. He has such strong desire. The kid (today) will be tough for him, but you never know what will happen. If Anthony keeps this up, he'll be fine. He's so explosive, he can beat anyone."

Joining Emmons in the finals tonight are two teammates: defending 152-pound state champion Bo Christianson and 160-pounder Daryl Watkins.

Christianson, who won by technical fall 20-3 over Dustin Chapman of Crook County, will face a familiar foe in the championship match: West Albany senior Billy Goldsberry.

"I wanted this since the beginning of the season," Christianson said. "You want to face the best, that's the way it should be. But I knew I had to take it one match at a time."

Christianson's victory came on the heels of two very close losses by 125-pounder Greg Alexander and 145-pounder Abe Siala. Alexander lost 9-7 to Jon Lucero of Wilsonville, while West Albany's Jacob Richard earned a 14-10 decision over Siala.

And Watkins followed with another win for the Spartans, earning a hard-fought 2-1 triple overtime decision over Wilsonville's Steven Dewey, who he wrestled earlier this season with a little more success. He faces Micah Perry of Crook Country tonight for the championship.

"I beat him 9-3 at the Oregon Classic," Watkins said. "I was up 2-0 with about a 1:30 left in the third period, but we have a bit of a rivalry going and he came back though."

Watkins who didn't practice the week after districts due to a shoulder injury, admitted he came into the meet rusty. Yet, he managed to come up big for the Spartans, who were tied for fifth place in the 5A team standings with Eagle Point after the semifinals with 84 points. Hillsboro was in first with a 131.

"We were so close to having all five guys in the championships, a matter of a few points, too." Sather said. "So that would have been nice, but it feels great to have three guys wrestling for state titles."

Philomath's Matt Hill also moved one step closer to defending his state title. He was the 4A champion at 160 last season. Hill earned an 8-4 decision over Robbie Federico of Cascade in the semifinals and will face second-seeded Jesse Swift of Illinois Valley tonight for the championship.

His victory made up for a tough quarterfinal showing by the Warriors, who are in 13th place with 53 points. First-place Tillamook has a 132.

"It was a tough day for us earlier," Hill said. "So this feels pretty good and I am proud of our other wrestlers too. All of them won their consolation matches later, so that should help us."

The Spartans couldn't have asked for a better start on Friday, with five wrestlers winning their quarterfinal matches to qualify for the semifinals. It also meant CHS had won 11 of its 12 matches to that point. Heavyweight Dustin Shear was its only wrestler not to move on.

"It's been a phenomenal two days," Sather said. "It's unbelievable to win 11 of our 12 matches. Dustin had a hiccup there, but hopefully he can comeback for us."

Christianson wasted no time in qualifying for the semifinals, pinning Eagle Point's Tony Pinedo in 41 seconds. But the performance of the quarterfinals belonged to Emmons at 215 pounds. He upset No. 2 seeded James Rodriguez of Madras in a hard-earned 14-12 decision. In fact, Rodriguez was ranked No. 1 most of the season.

"He beat me previously this year," Emmons said. "So I wanted this really bad. This very much helps my confidence."

Also winning quarterfinal matches for the Spartans were Alexander, Siala and Watkins. And while they didn't go into the quarterfinals with any specific goals, Emmons said the Spartans were fired up by their success on Thursday.

Friday wasn't nearly as kind to the Philomath wrestling team. After seeing six wrestlers fall into the consolation brackets on Thursday, Hill was the only Warrior to qualify for the semifinals. He earned a 13-1 decision over Andy Godfrey of LaGrande in his quarterfinal match. Five of his teammates, however, suffered defeats there.

Derick Calder's strong run at 171 came to an end when he lost a close 6-5 decision to Scappoose's Kohl Miller in the quarters. He got there by upsetting No. 2 seed Denver Conrad of Siuslaw on Thursday, 9-5.

All three of Santiam Christian's wrestlers fell on Friday, the first day of the 3A meet. 103-pounder Ian Woosley was pinned in 2:29 by his first round opponent, Dallas Root of Burns, while fellow 103-pounder Hayden Tedrow lost in the second round after having a first-round bye. Rainer's Tyler Strenke pinned him in 2:33. Steven Morris, at 285 pounds, also was defeated via fall in the quarterfinals. Umatilla's Elvis Munoz put him on his back with 29 seconds left in the final period.

In the 2A/1A meet, Monroe's Chad Breeden was defeated by No. 3 seeded Colby Byers of Wallowa in the first round at 112. The senior was pinned in three minutes by Byers, who was the third-place finisher last year.

Semifinal results

5A: 125 n Jon Lucero, Wilsonville, dec. Greg Alexander, CHS, 9-7; 145 n Jacob Richard, West Albany, dec. Abe Siala, CHS, 14-10; 152 n Bo Christianson, CHS, tech. fall Dustin Chapman, Crook County, 20-3; Daryl Watkins, CHS, dec. Steven Dewey, Glencoe, 2-1 (3OT); 189 n Anthony Emmons, CHS, dec. Jay Lowe, Cleveland, 7-1

4A: (1) Matt Hill, PHS, dec. Robbie Federico, Cascade, 8-4

Quarterfinal results

5A: 125 n (3) Greg Alexander, CHS, dec. Stephen Scranton, Madras, 8-5; 145 n (2) Abe Siala, CHS, p. Daniel Merrill, Thurston, 5:42; 152 n (1) Bo Christianson, CHS, p. Tony Pinedo, Eagle Point, :41; 160 n (2) Daryl Watkins, CHS, dec. Patrick Burns, Century, 8-4; 215 - Anthony Emmons, CHS, dec. (2) James Rodriguez, Madras, 14-12; 285 n Saia Kofe, Jefferson, p. Dustin Shear, CHS, 1:05

4A: 160 n (1) Matt Hill, PHS, dec. Andy Godfrey, LaGrande, 13-1; 171 - Kohl Miller, Scappoose dec. Derick Calder, PHS, 6-5; 189 - Lance Tausaga, Illinois Valley, dec. James Zook, PHS, 9-2; 215 n (3) Anthony Rangel, Ontario, dec. Heath Honeycutt, PHS, 10-4; 285 n (2) Levi Cooper, North Marion, p. Travis Spencer, 5:34

3A: 103 n Tyler Strenke, Rainer, p. Hayden Tedrow, SC, 2:33; 285 n Elvis Munoz, Umatilla, p. Steven Morris, SC, 5:31.

2A/1A: 112 n Colby Byers, Wallowa, p. Chad Breeden, MHS, 3:00

First round

3A: 103 - Dallas Root, Burns, p. Ian Woosley, SC, 2:29