Wrestlers continue success

Raider wrestlers won 10 of their 11 matches at Wilbur last week, then took home three medals from a tournament, north of Spokane, full of big-school talent.

“Another good week of wrestling,” Head Coach Steve Hood said “The guys are working their rears off to compete at the very high level week in and week out.”

Last Wednesday the Raiders travelled to Wilbur for a mixer where the Raiders won 10 of their 11 matches.

Oscar Pakootas continued his run of victories, pinning both Connor Beattie of Davenport and Cole Swanson of Lakeside.

Jacob Smith was the only Raider to wrestle three matches at Wilbur. He lost to Joe Peterson of Wilbur-Creston-Keller, 15-0, then beat Austin Stauffer of Davenport 10-2 before pinning Justin Chapman of Davenport in 17 seconds.

Reese Caddy pinned both his opponents — Cole Swanson of Lakeside and Beattie of Davenport.

Gabe Moses picked up two wins by pin in Wilbur, over Matt Delifield and Bailey Hanfau, both of Davenport.

Octavio Alejandre also continued his dominance of the 285-pound bracket with two pins over Trevor Morris of Davenport and Randy Bahnet of Wilbur-Creston-Keller.

A match at Liberty Bell scheduled for Jan. 8 was moved to another date without the Raiders’ knowledge. LR travelled to Liberty Bell in the Methow Valley to find out that the Mt. Lions had left for Olympia early. LR shook it off and prepped for the tourney at Riverside on Saturday.

There, the Raiders faced a field of great competitors from the Spokane area, including many Greater Spokane League JV squads.

At Riverside, Oscar Pakootas took home his fourth straight gold medal at 132. Pakootas pinned Ross of Central Valley, Miller of Deer Park, and Johnson of North Central.

Octavio Alejandre also brought home gold at 285 after pins of De Vore of Deer Park and Rojas of Royal City.

Jacob Smith came home with a third place at 120. Smith lost to Burns of Deer Park before pinning Moxley of Timberlake (Idaho) and Charlton of North Central.

Gabe Moses was the only other Raider competing at Riverside. He lost to Luckland of Deer Park, beat Zito of Lakeside, then lost to Bishop of North Central.

The Raiders have only one match this week when they take off to Rainier on Friday. At Rainier the Raiders will see some of the best all around competition yet this season. The field at the tourney includes Rainier, Pateros, Kalama, Tenino, Elma, Castle Rock, Chelan, Kiona-Benton, South Whidbey, Eatonville, Vashon Island, Rochester, Bellevue Christian, La Conner, Port Townsend, and Ocosta. Each weight class will have a 16-man bracket. Wrestling starts Saturday at 9 a.m.