Wrestlers place highly across state

Five of 12 Raider wrestlers placed in last weekend’s Rainier tournament, securing a ninth-place finish for Lake Roosevelt at the 17-team tournament.

Some teams at the Sgt. Justin Norton Memorial Tournament split their JV wrestlers off, increasing the scored squads to 31 at the event on the other side of the Cascades. LR and Pateros were the only B schools in attendance.

At 126 pounds, James Monaghan knocked off a number-one seed, which impressed both his coaches; and Oscar Pakootas faced a two-time state champ in the 132 finals.

“Oscar had a good match,” Head Coach Steve Hood commented. “He tries to get the other guy out of position so he can make his move. This time the other guy did not get out of position.”

Dwight Belgarde wrestled in his first-ever high school match at Rainier. Coaches Hood and Largent liked what they saw.

“Dwight is a scrapper and is alway moving,” Largent said. Hood noted that, “Dwight is in the process of making the jump from middle school wrestling to high school and is still learning.”

Jesse Louie, in his second high school outing, very nearly placed in the tourney, losing right before the final matches.

Teddy Sharr impressed Largent, who said, “In his second match I was impressed with the movement Teddy had on the mat.”

Octavio Alejandre finished second at 285 as he faced a defending state champ in the finals, who caught Alejandre out of position.

Kodie Horn wrestled a tight finals match at 152 against Juan Garcia of Chelan, missing first place by the score of 3-2. Both coaches praised Horn for wrestling a great match.

This week, the wrestlers competed in three matches. The first was a mixer last night in Wilbur against Wilbur-Creston, Republic, Almira/Coulee-Hartline, and Lakeside. Tomorrow, the Raiders travel to Okanogan for a dual match starting at 7 p.m. On Saturday, the wrestlers head south to Othello for a JV/Girls tournament. At Othello, Kodie Horn, James Monaghan, Coltin Williams, Oscar Pakootas, and Octavio Alejandre will be coaches, due to the season 33-match limit. All other wrestlers will be competing. Matches start at 10 a.m. at Othello High School.

James Monaghan 126 5th

Coltin Williams 126 2nd

Zack Erickson 126 DNP

Oscar Pakootas 132 2nd

Scott Abrahamson 138 DNP

Gabe Moses 138 DNP

Jesse Louie 145 DNP

Dwight Belgarde 145 DNP

Kodie Horn 152 2nd

Teddy Sharr 182 DNP

Octavio Alejandre 285 2nd

Tristan Goss 285 DNP