CORVALLIS, Ore. – Eastern Oregon University’s Hunter Sparks was named the 2023-24 Cascade Collegiate Conference Rize Laboratory Men’s Wrestler of the Year, announced Friday by the conference office.
The senior 125-pound wrestler from Roseburg, Ore., had a dominant final season on the mat, ending with a 21-1 overall record and was ranked at the top of his weight class the majority of the season. His wins included nine decisions, six pins, five major decisions, and a technical fall.
In the CCC tournament, he defeated No. 14-ranked Nicolas Aguilar of Menlo College in the championship bout to win by 7-2 decision for his second straight title. This led Sparks to an automatic berth to the NAIA Championship, where he went undefeated.
He avenged his 2023 loss with a victory over last year's national champion in a dramatic triple overtime semifinals match. Then, the national championship turned into a CCC rematch as Sparks met with Menlo's Aguilar once again. After falling early, he came back to win the national championship by 6-5 decision.
Sparks is Eastern’s first national champion in 55 years and is just the third in EOU history. He also added to his accolades by earning the 2024 NAIA Outstanding Wrestler of the Year on top of classroom accomplishments including being named CCC All-Academic Conference and NAIA Daktronics Scholar-Athlete.
Eastern Oregon placed 6th at the CCC Championship and 12th at the NAIA Championship.