Wrestling adjusts to gym situation, keeps on wrestling

Raider Wrestling had to move its Dec. 10 home mixer to the Grand Coulee middle school gym, but at least the move was made easier by new mats the wrestling program received through a donation by the Nespelem District of the Colville Tribes.

Chelan's JV, Brewster, Wilbur-Creston-Keller, and Davenport attended, with 45 matches being wrestled. LR had only three wrestlers competing.

Oscar Pakootas and Octavio Alejandre dominated their competition at the mixer, winning matches with ease. Reese Caddy was the third Raider wrestling. In his two matches, Caddy came away with wins.

The new matts donated to the Lake Roosevelt program by the Colville Tribes are the first new ones in about 40 years, Hood said. They offer more cushion and are also much easier to move, a good thing when a match has to move from one building to another.

In Connell Saturday, the Raiders took part in the Connell Tourney against a mix of 1A South Central Athletic Conference and 4A/3A Big Nine schools. "This was a very strong tournament with many top ranked state wrestlers," Head Coach Steve Hood said.

Oscar Pakootas had a great day, being the only Raider placer and taking second at 138 pounds.

"In the finals match, they were tied at the end of regulation," Hood noted. "During the 'sudden victory' overtime, his opponent from Warden scored first."

This week, the Raider wrestlers head to Tonasket Wednesday night, then to a Cashmere tourney on Saturday.

At Cashmere, all four Caribou Trail League schools will be in attendance along with Quincy of the 2A Central Washington Athletic Conference. Matches will start at 10 a.m. at Cashmere High School.

Last week's article incorrectly stated that Gabe Moses was disqualified in a placing match. However, Moses' opponent was disqualified by reaching the daily match limit, not Moses.

132 Reese Caddy DNP

138 Oscar Pakootas 2nd

138 Zach Erickson DNP

285 Octavio Alejandre DNP