UCC men's wrestling coach Kyle Temple has announced the signing of Thurston High School standout Austin Watson. Watson held a very impressive career while attending Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon. Watson was the 2019 OSAA Class 5A State Champion at 160 pounds after going 54-2 on the season. Watson's two losses came to OSAA 6A 160 pound State Champ Landon Davis of Sprague High School in a 3-2 bout at the Rose City Championships as well as WIAA 4A 170 pound State Champ Gideon Malychewski of Camas High School in a 7-3 decision at the Rose City Championships.

Austin Placed 1st at the OSAA 5A State Tournament as a junior at 152 pounds and 3rd at the OSAA 5A State Tournament at 145 pounds as a sophomore. Watson became Thurston's 2nd 2-time State Champ in school history.

"I am really excited to be adding some very solid depth to our middleweights with the signing of Austin, said Coach Temple. Austin can wrestle 157, 165, or 174 for us during his career. We have been working hard to add some depth and Austin will really make the middleweights a tough spot in our line-up. He has Division 1 talent but was excited to stay a little closer to home and get some good experience at the college level."

Austin will major in Mathematics and education and has goals of becoming a teacher and coach upon finishing his education.