Amy Bloom pinned three competitors on her way to first place at the United States Girls Wrestling Association (USGWA) Oregon Girls Wrestling State Championships. The competition took place on March 4 at David Douglas High School in Portland.

Bloom (106) had three pins in the preliminary matches before meeting Sarah Rowen for the championship. Bloom won in a 9-3 decision.

On March 12, Bloom met Rowen again, this time in the final match of the Washington state championships in the 105 division. History repeated itself, and Bloom won in a 6-4 decision. Previously Bloom had defeated Kiana Witt with a 3-0 decision.

Many of the competitors did not show up for the Washington tournament due to bad weather.

Laura Gourley of Sweet Home also competed in both tournaments. She took third place in the Oregon tournament at 152 pounds.

Bloom and Gourley are now preparing for the USGWA national championships, which will be held in April in Michigan. Last year, Bloom took home a first place from that event.

Bloom and Gourley train with the USA Cobra team under coach Bobo Umemoto in Portland. They practice 11 months out of the year and travel around the country to compete.

They didn't have to qualify to wrestle in the USGWA national championships, but Umemoto requires them to attend a three-day camp before they leave.

&#8220I really look forward to seeing Amy place really high or win the tournament," Umemoto said.

He described Bloom and Gourley as &#8220real tough, real dedicated. They never miss a practice."

Umemoto said that the biggest tournaments will take place after the USGWA nationals. May 5-7 is the FILA cadet tournament and July 24-25 is the High School Junior National Championship.

Umemoto has high expectations for both Bloom and Gourley.

&#8220I definitely see a scholarship or something really big in the future," he said.