Royal falls to Medical Lake

ROYAL CITY — Despite winning five straight matches, Royal was unable to hold on to the lead as Medical Lake defeated the Knights 35-34 in non-league action Tuesday.

Royal City held a 34-32 lead going into the final match of the night, but Medical Lake pulled out the victory with a decision in the 160 pound division.

In the decisive match, senior Brian Gilbert moved down from 171 pounds to face Medical Lake. The match was tied at two after the first round, but a head and arm takedown by the Medical Lake wrestler put Gilbert behind in the match for good.

The decision gave Medical Lake the victory in the match.

"I wanted to have my senior in that last match," said Royal City head coach Ben Orth. "It was a tough loss, but there was good wrestling nonetheless. We wrestled to our potential."

Medical Lake, wrestling out of the 2A Great Northern League, has given Royal strong competition. Last year, Royal visited Medical Lake and was beaten 72-0.

Coach Orth was pleased with his team's effort last night.

"Medical Lake had 12 seniors in their lineup," Orth said. "I'm glad our kids got to see a full lineup of seniors. We don't often see that."

After losing three of the first four matches to fall behind 17-6 in the meet, Royal won five straight contests to surge to a 31-17 lead. From there Medical Lake rallied, winning four of the final five matches to take the dual meet victory.

Ritchy Villafana started Royal's streak with a win by forfeit in the 103 pound division.

At 112 pounds, Jerry Villa jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first round on a takedown and 2-point near fall. Villa added to his lead in the second round, scoring a reversal with three seconds remaining to make the score 7-2. Villa spent the entire third round in the bottom position, but gave up no points to his opponent.

"That was a great match for Jerry," said Orth. "They've wrestled several times and gone back and forth. It's nice to come out on top."

The match of the night took place at 119 pounds. Jose Barajas faced off with Medical Lake's Justin Murry, a 2A state tournament qualifier from a year ago. Barajas was taken down in the first round, but earned an escape near the end of the period to make the score 2-1.

In the second round, Barajas tied the score at three with a takedown near the edge of the mat. Murry finished the round with an escape and a takedown of his own to jump to a 6-3 lead.

In the final round, Barajas got a reversal with 1:14 remaining to close the score to 6-5. Needing a score in the closing seconds to take the lead, Barajas locked up a cradle and rolled Murry to his back. With one second remaining in the round, Barajas secured a pin to put Royal ahead 21-17 in the match.

"That was a big lift for the team," Orth said of the come-from-behind victory. "It helped the next few kids come out strong."

Royal recorded back-to-back pins when Arturo Barajas threw his opponent to the mat and pinned him with 12 seconds remaining in the first period of the 125 pound match. Barajas built an early 2-1 lead in the match before getting the fall.

At 130 pounds, Omar Avelar took the Medical Lake wrestler down twice in the first round for a 4-1 lead. Avelar scored a 3-point near fall in the second round, extending his lead at the end of the period to 7-2.

Avelar began the third round in the bottom position. From there he scored a reversal and a 3-point near fall to earn a 12-2 major decision. The win pushed Royal's lead in the match to 31-17.

Luke Tonnemaker gave up a first round takedown and a second round reversal in his 135 pound match to fall behind 4-0. Tonnemaker lost the match by a fall late in the third round.

In a tightly contested match, Nels Toftdahl defeated Medical Lake's Cody Link 4-1. Toftdahl took Link down with 38 seconds left in the first round to take a 2-0 lead in the 140 pound contest.

During the second round, Link escaped from the bottom position to close the score to 2-1.

In the third period, Toftdahl reversed Link with less than a minute remaining to secure the victory and extend Royal's lead to 34-23.

Medical Lake received a forfeit victory in the 145 pound classification as Royal's varsity wrestler was out with an injury. That made the score 34-29 with two matches remaining in the contest.

Josh Mathis was defeated 9-2 in the 152 pound match. Trailing 9-1 with seconds remaining in the match, Mathis' opponent was penalized one point for stalling.

The penalty point prevented Medical Lake from earning a major decision and an additional team point. Royal took a 34-32 lead into the final contest of the night.

In earlier action, the dual meet began at 171 pounds with Jordan Thomas losing by a technical fall in the second round. Thomas escaped several dangerous near fall positions, but lost the match 16-1.

In the 189 pound matchup, TJ Hunt fell behind 2-0, but got an escape and a takedown to claim a 3-2 lead after the first round. Hunt added to his lead in the second round before getting the pin with 1:21 remaining in the period.

At 215 pounds, Miguel Santana lost by pin in the first round.

In the 275 pound classification, Royal's Tranden Benson attempted a takedown early in the first round, but was countered and taken to his back by the Medical Lake wrestler.

Benson lost the match by fall in 1:28 of the first round.

The consecutive pins by Medical Lake gave them an early 17-6 lead in the contest.