LA PINE — Landyn Philpott and Devon Kerr are more than just close friends. The two seniors at La Pine High School consider each other brothers after building a strong bond in the Hawks Mat Club as middle-schoolers.

But once the two start wrestling during practice a switch is flipped. They are no longer brothers. They are no longer friends. They are competitors who want to get the upper-hand on each other.

“When we enter the wrestling room it’s a war zone,” Kerr said.

Then practice ends, the switch flips back and Kerr and Philpott are once again friends.

The routine has worked wonders for the pair, who are both on the precipice of joining the exclusive club of wrestlers who have won four individual state championships.

“The fourth state title is not going to come easy,” Philpott said. “It’s probably going to be one of the hardest titles. It’s my last year and I want to make a statement.”

“This year feels different compared to the rest because we are going after it,” Kerr said. “A lot of people might have excuses when they win three state tiles, they think the fourth one is just going to be given to you, but I think we have done a really good job of working really hard this year.”

According to orhssportsrecords.com, only 50 Oregon high school wrestlers dating back to 1931 have won individual state titles in each of their four years.

Among Central Oregon wrestlers, the club is even more exclusive. Culver’s Lorenzo Vasquez (2016-19), Jared Kasch (2010-13) and Miguel Baltazar (2005-08), and Mountain View’s Beau Ohlson (2017-2020) are the only local wrestlers that have four state titles. Crook County’s Tyler Berger also won four state titles (2011-14), with three of them coming while wrestling for Hermiston.

La Pine has had a pair of wrestlers end their careers as three-time time state champions, but none have been four-time champs.

“We talked about it at the beginning of the year that they have a big target on their back,” said La Pine wrestling coach Aaron Flack. “They have to work harder than they ever have. It doesn’t matter what you did last year, it doesn’t matter what you did the last two years. The only thing that matters is right now, and it is not the time to coast.”

Kerr and Philpott have each eclipsed 100 wins in their high school careers. Kerr has a record of 116-13 and Philpott is 129-18, according to orhssportsrecords.com. Kerr won the Class 3A 132-pound title in 2022, the 138-pound title in 2023 and the 144-pound title last February. Philpott has titles in 120, 132 and 138 the past three seasons, while also earning Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno, Nev., in December 2023.

But this season might be the most challenging with what is at stake.

One might assume that winning the first state title as a freshman competing against older, more experienced and physically mature wrestlers might be the toughest championship to win. But both Philpott and Kerr said that winning titles as sophomores and juniors became progressively harder.

Everyone wants to knock off the champs, but so far, no one has been able to knock off Kerr or Philpott.

“I think we just started getting a bigger target on our backs,” Philpott said. “Everyone started saying, ‘Let’s go beat Philpott, let’s go beat Kerr. They have everything to lose, we have nothing to lose, let’s go beat them.’ Everyone is coming at us and trying to take our four titles away.”

A fourth title would be extra special for Kerr. The aforementioned two three-time champions from La Pine are Kerr’s older brothers: Derrik Kerr (2017-19) and David Kerr (2015-17). His older sister Kira Kerr also won consecutive championships (2021-22) while his father, Dave, won a state title for La Pine in 1989.

“Four titles would definitely hang over them,” Devon Kerr said. “That would be cool. That is another thing that is driving me this year.”

The wrestling season is just starting and there are still some major tournaments — the Sierra Nevada Classic, the Rollie Lane Invitational in Nampa, Idaho, the Reser’s Tournament of Champions at Sherwood and district championships — before the top wrestlers meet at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum in late February for the state meet.

All of it leads to a chance for Philpott and Kerr to etch their names among the best wrestlers in state history. It’s a journey they are happy to be taking together.

“Glory is earned,” Kerr said. “And I think we have both done a good job of earning our glory. It might be selfish, but I can confidently say that day in and day out, I have earned it. And I can say the same things about him, too.”