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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1993)
Smoke Signals April 1993 Page 8 Shonn & Dustin Leno Win State Wrestling Title This season, Shonn and Dustin Leno helped lead Willamina High School to a state wrestling championship, and they each won the individual title for their weight class. This is Shonn's third state title and Dustin's second title. They are the only brothers in the history of Oregon 2AWrestling to ever win back to back championships. Shonn was the first wrestler in Willamina wrestling history to ever place all four years, and Dustin was the first Freshman ever to win a state title. Joey Smith and Jimmy LeBoff are the boys' teammates who also won state titles. The boys began wrestling when they were four years old, coached by their dad, Reyn Leno. Now at seventeen, Shonn is thinking about college. "I'm thinking about Portland State, but I'm still looking," he said. Both Shonn and Dustin admit their big dream is to be part of an Olympic team. Said Shonn, "Maybe in the year 2000." The prospect is not as unlikely as it may seem. A lot of people think that when school wrestling is over, they will be done for the year. This is far from the truth. "Both boys wrestle for the Peninsula Wrestling Club in Portland during the off-season," explained tribal member Reyn Leno, the boys' dad. "They have been with the Peninsula Club for six years. They have been on National and Cadet National tournaments." Roy Pitman, their coach at Peninsula, has been an Olympic coach in Canada, and has taken Shonn and Dustin to compete in places like Iowa, Minnesota, and " Montana. Wrestling is a family affair with these boys. Shonn and Dustin's family is very involved with their sporting activities. So much so that support is not a strong enough word to describe the active role they play. Said Liz, their mother, "We have always had a lot of family support for the boys. At their tournaments and matches they always have a great cheering section filled with aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins. Even the Tribe donated some money and held raffles to help fund Shonn's way to Nationals one year." Though Shonn is seventeen and Dustin fifteen, they weigh in pretty close together. Shonn at 1 3 0 lbs. , and Dustin at 123 lbs. Usually, during a meet, they wrestle pretty close together. Their sister, Angie, usually attends every meet. "It helps when they wrestle close together. When Dustin wins his match, the enthusiasm carries over into Shonn's match. They really lean on each other," she said. When asked if they ever wrestle each other to see who is stronger, Dustin replied, "We work out a lot together at practice and school, but we don't usually wrestle each other. " Dustin was also the first freshman at Willamina to win a state title last year. I asked the two brothers if they ever get mad at themselves for not performing as well as they's like. "It really depends on how big of a match it is," said Shonn. But you usually don't dwell on it. You've got to brush it off." r 3 'Mj W W tk . C Vy r' M f f ""-i "- ' ' ' -T- - , ''zyL,f!.-. i i,r i- y .... " -- Vv I r; S J , i7 w ' -.' " -W. 7 .vr-. - V. . . s , VI j . ..-- - VAI1. I ; : : l rf i i .. . : . --I j v ,4r . I ' . ' ' ' I n V-V!7 ' ' ' . I i if I ' . . I ' 1 '""v ' V" I ' r I Shonn & Dustin are the only brothers to ever win back-to-back state titles in Oregon.
