Eight wrestlers advance to regionals

Eight of nine Raider wrestlers competing finished in the top six of their weight brackets at the North Sub-Regional tournament at Northwest Christian Feb. 8, sending them on to the next step on the way to the state tournament in Tacoma.

“Eight wrestlers will move on to regionals,” said Head Coach Steve Hood. “We had a good tournament.”

Lake Roosevelt had two sub-regional champions. At 145 pounds, Kodie Horn swept the field to come home as sub-regional champ. Octavio Alejandre is the North Sub-Regional champ at 285 and looks to continue his winning ways this weekend at regionals with another championship.

LR had three more wrestlers make the championship match and come home in second place. James Mongahan took second at 120 and will advance with a great seed into the regional tournament. Coltin Williams took second at 126 and looks to have a better regional tournament than last year, when he was ill the week of regionals. This year Williams is looking to place in the money to move on to the Tacoma Dome. Oscar Pakootas took second at 132 and is looking to be a regional champ.

Jesse Louie, in his first high school season, placed fourth at 145. Louie and Horn could face each other at regionals on Saturday.

Teddy Sharr also placed fourth at 182. Sharr will be looking to continue the good momentum at regionals.

Zack Erickson finished the tourney with a fifth place at 120 and will move on to regionals. Erickson competed last year at regionals as a 106 pounder, an experience that could help him qualify for a state berth.

Dwight Belgarde, in his first season of high school wrestling, did not place at 138 and will not advance to the regional tournament, but he gained valuable experience that he can carry over into next season.

Now the Raiders will have four good days in the practice room, “and we will be ready to compete again on Friday,” Hood said.

The two-day regional competition takes place at Kittitas High School. First-round matches will be wrestled Friday with the top two from each sub-region having byes to the second round. On Saturday, the rest of the rounds with be wrestled. The split is due to the match limit for a one-day event set at five matches. By dividing the tournament over two days, the wrestlers will have enough matches to complete the tourney.

Action on Friday starts at 4 p.m. and on Saturday at 10 a.m. The top four in each weight class will advance to the Mat Classic at the Tacoma Dome on Feb. 20 and 21.