Knights dominate regional tournament

ROYAL CITY — The Knights, with seven individual champions and a total of 18 wrestlers moving on to next week's state tournament, ran away with the team title at the 1A regional tournament in Royal City Saturday.

Warden, which finished second behind the Knights, qualified 11 wrestlers for state.

The finals began for Royal at 112 pounds, where the Knights' Jerry Villa used a pair of takedowns and 2-point near-falls to earn an 8-2 victory over Granger's Wally Almaguer.

At 125 pounds, Royal's Arturo Barajas faced off with Warden's Robert Pruneda for the title. The match was close early, but Barajas broke the bout open with a reversal and 2-point near-fall in the final 30 seconds of the second round to extend his lead to 10-4. In the third round, Barajas went back to takedowns, bringing Pruneda down three times to win the match 16-8.

In the closest match of the finals, Royal's Omar Avelar needed overtime to get a 3-1 victory at 130 pounds over Mabton's Andy Torres. With the match tied at one late in the third round, Avelar got in on a deep shot, but was unable to finish the move for a takedown and break the tie.

Torres attempted a duck-under takedown in overtime, but Avelar was able to counter with a throw, tossing the Mabton wrestler straight to his back for the takedown and the victory.

Sam Villegas won the title at 140 pounds for Royal, picking up an injury-default victory over River View's Chris Strawn.

Another Royal-Warden battle occurred at 145 pounds, where Angel Ledezma squared off with the Cougars' Alan Martinez. Ledezma took Martinez down twice, escaped once, kept Martinez down on the mat for nearly five minutes of the match to pick up a 5-0 win.

Royal's finals win streak ended at 152 pounds, where the Knights' Josh Mathis lost a 4-3 decision to River View's Ben Buck. Jordan Thomas finished second for Royal at 160, falling 12-5 to Connell's Adam Orozco.

Royal was assured a victory at 189 pounds, as Knights teammates Hector Ledezma and TJ Hunt battled for the title. Ledezma controlled the match and won a 9-2 victory.

Trandon Benson finished off the tournament for Royal with a win at 285 pounds, pinning Mabton's Eli Perez in 2:26.

As important as the finals participants are to both Royal and Warden's state-tournament prospects, the large group of wrestlers each team qualified for state in the consolation brackets will also be key to either team's chances of bringing home hardware from Tacoma next weekend.

1A Regional Wrestling Team Scores:

1. Royal, 308.5 points; 2. Warden, 164; 3. Goldendale, 122; 4. Mabton, 84; 5, Kiona-Benton, 80.

Local Place Winners: (Top 5 to State)

103 - 3, Hernon Cortez (R); 4, Frankie Jimenez (W); 5, Kris Rice (R); 112 - 1, Jerry Villa (R); 4, Rigoberto Jimenez (R); 5, Jesse Guerra (W); 119 - 3, Juan Esquivel (R); 5, Chencho Lopez (R); 125 - 1, Arturo Barajas (R); 2, Robert Pruneda (W); 130 - 1, Omar Avelar (R); 6, Chris Kalous (W); 135 - 4, AJ Martinez (W); 140 - 1, Sam Villegas (R); 6, Guadalupe Landeros (W); 145 - 1, Angel Ledezma (R); 2, Alan Martinez (W); 152 - 2, Josh Mathis (R); 5, Arturo Martinez (W); 160 - 2, Jordan Thomas (R); 3, Scott Phillips (W); 4, Mitchell Christensen (R); 171 - 3, Joel Martinez (W); 5, Ernesto Deras (R); 189 - 1, Hector Ledezma (R); 2, TJ Hunt (R); 6, Kenny Guerra (W); 215 - 4, Justin Rollins (W); 5, Jacob Christensen (R); 285 - 1, Trandon Benson (R); 3, Robbie Horn (W); 5, Tony Martinez (W); 6, Edgar Montoya (R).