The Grant Union/Prairie City boys wrestling and Grant Union girls wrestling state placers pose for a photo on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland. From left are Frankie Beam, Taylor Parsons, Sivanna Hodge, Mallory Lusco and Zoey Beam.

PORTLAND — For the third straight year, Grant Union has a pair of state champion grapplers.

Junior Mallory Lusco and Sophomore Taylor Parsons both won state wrestling championships during the OSAA Wrestling Championships on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 22 and 23, at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

For Lusco, the girls 235-pound championship is her third in a row. Parsons, wrestling at 126 pounds, won his second straight boys title. Justin Hodge took home first place for the Prospectors at 152 pounds in 2022.

Lusco is the only wrestler in Grant Union history to win three straight state titles, and her third was likely extra-special. The state final saw Lusco face off with North Valley’s Breanna Meek in a rematch of their district championship matchup that Meek won by fall.

This time it was Lusco celebrating a pinfall victory as she dispatched Meek with just 11 seconds left in the first period to avenge that loss and come away with the state crown.

On the boys side, Parsons collected his second state title in a row without very much drama, winning all four of his matches by pinfall to claim the 126-pound crown.

Both Grant Union/Prairie City for the boys and Grant Union for the girls had other state placers as well. Senior Sivanna Hodge came as close as you can come to winning a state title, falling in the championship match for a second-place finish at 190 pounds.

Senior Frankie Beam left Portland with a fourth-place finish in the 106-pound weight class for the Pros. He lost his opening match in the state tournament but rebounded and wrestled his way to the consolation finals, where he would fall to finish fourth.

The younger Beam, sophomore Zoey, also took home some hardware. Beam lost her opening match at the state tournament but rattled off three straight pinfall victories to leave Portland with third-place honors in the girls 106-pound weight class.

The Grant Union/Prairie City boys and Grant Union girls both left Portland with top 10 team finishes as well. The girls finished with 65 team points, good enough for a fourth-place tie with Oakridge and four points ahead of sixth-place Vale.

The La Grande girls ran away with the team championship, amassing 102 team points to second-place Harrisburg’s 80. Just ahead of the Lady Pros was Crook County, which finished third with 75 team points.

The Grant Union/Prairie City boys finished eighth as a team with 51.5 team points.

Toledo claimed the state title in the boys 2A competition, finishing with 138 team points. Willamina was right behind with 121.5 team points, and Camas Valley finished third with 101 team points.