Wrestlers bring home two gold medals

Of the seven wrestlers Lake Roosevelt sent to the Charger Invite in Springdale Saturday, four placed at the tourney, including two who came home with weight bracket gold medals for first place.

As a team, LR finished fourth overall, with 91 points.

“We continue to show improvement every time we compete,” Head Coach Steve Hood said. “Saturday was a great day of wrestling. … We saw wrestlers from nine schools that we hadn’t already competed against this season.”

At 120 pounds, Jacob Smith scored some solid wins enroute to his fifth tournament win. He pinned Bubs Snyder of Kettle Falls and Cole Reise of Rainier before winning the championship match by decision over Justin Volking of Kettle Falls.

Tony Nichols came home with a gold medal in the 132-pound bracket, the second time this season Nichols has won a tournament. Nichols pinned R.J. Stroczyk of Wilbur-Creston-Keller in his first match of the day, setting up a semifinal match against teammate Trevor Circle. Nichols defeated Circle by decision, then pinned Chris Jones of Colfax to earn his second gold medal.

Circle came in fourth for his second placing of the season. Circle won two matches against Logan Bailey of Selkirk and Graham Rocha of Northwest Christian, both by pin, to set up the semifinal match against Nichols. Then Circle lost the placing match against Rocha by decision to finish fourth.

At 106 pounds, Kaleb Horn placed second, continuing to show that he is a contender at the weight class. Horn pinned Brock Young of Rainier and Garrett Lavender of Hanford to set up a title match against Curtis Leniz of Rainier. Horn lost by pin to Leniz to come home with the silver.

Last night the Raiders traveled to Wilbur for a mixer with other area squads. On Friday, LR hits the road for Rainier, where they will take part in the Sgt. Justin Norton Memorial Classic on Saturday. Matches start at 10 a.m. at Rainier High School.

“This will be the most competitive tournament we have been in this season, with many returning state placers and champions from 2A, 1A and B classifications,” Hood said.

Chelan, Pateros, Kiona-Benton, and Cle Elum-Roslyn will be joining LR as the east-side contingent at the tourney.