Raider wrestlers reign in Rainier

Lake Roosevelt wrestlers crossed the Cascade mountains all the way to Rainier last week, where they wrestled yetis on the side of the mountain.

Well, not exactly. In actuality, they wrestled at Rainier High School, where Kaleb Horn and Tony Nichols placed first, Robert Thomas placed fifth, and the rest gained some solid experience.

Wrestling at 132 pounds, Horn pinned his opponent, Gerrish from Rainier, then defeated Steele from Klahowya 5-1 before defeating Stafford from Klahowya 4-0 to secure the first-place spot.

“That was a tough match, a good match, though,” Raider Head Coach Steve Hood said. “The good matches late in the season are low-scoring close matches.”

In the 152-pound class, Nichols pinned Vashon’s Rutschow, pinned Elder from Ocosta, defeated Alcala from Chelan 8-2, then faced off against Dowell from Adna.

“That was one of the matchups we were hoping to get,” Hood said.

The score was 0-0 at the end of the first round. In the second round, Nichols got points for an escape and a takedown, plus a stalling point against Dowell, who got his points from two escapes.

“They were wrestling on their feet at the end of the match,” Hood said.

The score was 4-2 for Nichols, who took the first-place spot.

Robert Thomas, wrestling at 106, defeated Snead from Franklin Pierce 16-6, but lost by pin to Klahowya’s Hlebechuk, and to Johnson from Mt. Baker. Thomas took fifth in the division.

Raider Ida Sue won her match in the girls’ division.

Tyler Palmer went 2-1 for the day. Ryan Moon, Dylan Wiles, Moses Luveno, Brandon Long, and Sherwin Vargas all went 1-2 for the day, and Everett Schmidt and Conner Klingenberg both went 0-2.

“You get matchups of freshmen against juniors and seniors,” Hood said. “Our guys are holding their own in there, getting better and better. Lost a couple of one- or two-point matches and won a few like that too.”

“We got what we wanted out of it, as far as good competition; we had fun,” Hood continued, adding that they went bowling the day before.

The Raiders’ next event is the Pateros Mix & Match on Thursday, Jan. 18, at 6 p.m., followed by a tournament in Kittitas at 10 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 20.