Warden wins Christmas title
Warden High School wrestler Chris Kalous, right, takes down Hank Burton of Chelan in their semifinal match at 130 pounds. Kalous won the match to advance to the finals in the Royal Christmas Tournament Tuesday. Photo by Miles Douglass/Columbia Basin Herald
ROYAL CITY — The Warden Cougars wrestling team clawed their way to a first place finish at Royal High School’s annual Christmas Tournament Tuesday.
The Cougars won the standing-room-only event with 172 points, distancing themselves from the Rockets of Castle Rock who wrestled to a second-place finish with 167 points. The Chelan Goats rounded out the top-3 with 156 points.
The hosting Royal Knights finished the tournament in sixth place with 133 points behind Zillah (fourth place with 138.5 points) and Cashmere (fifth place with 137.5 points).
Royal wrestling coach Bruce Jensen said he brought a young team to a tournament, which is one of the state’s oldest.
“It’s one of the top tournaments in the state,” Jensen said. “(It) has been for years.”
The tournament brought together some of the toughest wrestling teams from the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association 1A classification.
The Royal Christmas Tournament featured six teams which finished in the top-10 at Mat Classic XX and 11 schools which finished in the top-23 at the state tournament last season.
The Rockets wrestling team from Castle Rock, coached by Joe Godinho, made the trip from Western Washington despite the winter-weather conditions.
The Rockets were rewarded for their efforts with a second-place finish against teams and wrestlers they would not see until Mat Classic XXI in February.
“All the teams are here — we don’t get a chance to see them that often.” Godinho said. “There’s a lot of tradition here and we came to play.”
Warden found itself with four wrestlers in the tournament’s finals and came away with one champion when Robert Pruneda pinned Evan Olinger of Kiona-Benton in 1:41 at 135 pounds.
Chris Kalous fought his way to the finals in the 130-pound weight class but fell in defeat 17-0 to Matt Payne from Castle Rock. Warden’s J.P. Martinez lost 6-2 to Jonathan Salcedo of Granger in the finals at 103 pounds and Lupe Landeros fell 8-6 to Gage Schmidt of Chelan at 140 pounds.
Royal sent two wrestlers to the finals and came away with one champion when Danny Barajas dominated the 112-pound weight class and took home the first place finish.
Tournament Results
1) Warden 172
2) Castle Rock 167
3) Chelan 156
4) Zillah 138.5
5) Cashmere 137.5
6) Royal 133
7) Granger 116
8) Naches 103
9) Connell 101.5
10) Kamiakin 88.5
11) Tonasket 83.5
12) Kiona Benton 70
13) Liberty Bell 68.5
14) Okanogan 42
15) Wahluke 40
16) Goldendale 37
17) Othello (JV) 25
Championship Matches
103) Jonathan Salcedo (Granger) def. J.P. Martinez (Warden) 6-2
112) Danny Barajas (Royal) pinned. Colton Skelton (Liberty Bell) 4:59
119) Skylor Davis (Zillah) technical fall Chris Chipman (Cashmere) 18-2
125) Sammy Salcedo (Granger) pinned. Deuardo Montes (Othello) :31
130) Matt Payne (Castle Rock) technical fall Chris Kalous (Warden) 17-0
135) Robert Pruneda (Warden) pinned Evan Olinger (Kiona-Benton) 1:41
140) Gage Schmidt (Chelan) def. Lupe Lamderos (Warden) 8-6
145) Pedro Mendoza (Kamiakin) pinned Jose Garcia (Chelan) 4:40
152) Chris Castillo (Zillah) def. Josh Mason (Cashmere) 3-2
160) Andrew Grillo (Tonasket) def. Angel Ledezma (Royal) 4-3
171) Keegan McCormick (Tonasket) def. Fortunato Placencia (Cashmere) 11-4
189) Kane Koerner (Zillah) def. Alexx Arent (Kamiakin) 4-2
215) Nato Orozco (Connell) def. Sean Gervais (Chelan) 5-4
285) Ashton Gottschalk (Naches) pinned John Meyers (Zillah) 3:56