Cougars, Knights wrestling go 1-2 at SCAC East districts

BENTON CITY — It is now all a fond memory.

With membership in 1A competition fading into history, the Warden Cougars left their undeniable impression in concrete Saturday at the SCAC East District wrestling championships.

Warden took its 18th and last SCAC East district title under coach Rick Bowers, scoring 266 points, outlasting second-place Royal (219.5 points) and advancing 14 wrestlers to next week’s regionals in Zillah.

Next year the Cougars move down to 2B competition.

“It’s been a real pleasure to be in that league,” Bowers said.  “They are quality people. They do things right, they’re fair, and good sports. Between us, Royal, and Zillah we won the state title about a dozen years in a row.”

J.P. Martinez (112-pounds), Scott Henderson (135-pounds), Dakota Scott (171-pounds), and Gerino Luna (285-pounds), captured individual titles for the Cougars.

“We wrestled well but not as well as we can,” Bowers said. “We want to peak at the week of state and I’m counting on it that we will.”

Martinez defeated Wahluke’s Austin Hudson 13-0, Henderson beat Royal’s Alex Myrick 12-8, Scott technical fell Jake Thomas 17-0, and Luna defeated Ki Be’s Corey Brumbaugh 8-1, in Warden’s finals victories.

Javier Tapia dropped a 2-0 decision at the 103-pound final, and Matthew DeLeon lost at 215-pounds to also take second but both advanced to regionals for the Cougars.

Top four finishers advance to regionals.

Warden also watched Carlos Gomez (119-pounds), Derek Pruneda (125-pounds), Cesar Rangel (130-pounds), Hector Camacho (145-pounds), Johnny Pruneda (171-pounds) and Adam Hansen (189-pounds) book passage to Zillah next week after their performances in Benton City.

“I had 14 going on and I had hopes for a few to go on,” Bowers said. “It’s exactly as I saw it. I haven’t seen the results from the (SCAC West) but I like where we are at.”

Two other Cougars, Sam Suarez and Kenny Sullivan, qualified for regionals by losing their respective weight class finals to Royal Knights.

Royal’s Kris Rice defeated Suarez 15-8 in the 140-pound final, while Sullivan fell in the 152-pound final to Damien De La Rosa, 9-3.

“Kris didn’t get to go to state last year and this year he’s wrestling so well,” Royal coach Seth Week said. “He’s got his head screwed on straight and I think he’ll do really well the rest of the way.

“Damian, who’s only a freshman, stepped up big time. He controlled the match and pace and made it his environment.”

Justin Kincade took the 189-pound title with a pin against Enrique Barajas of Wahluke, to help Royal’s cause.

“He’s come in and he’s a top dog, he’s tough,” Weeks said. “He’s super aggressive, he’s strong and a go getter.He dominated the field, no one touched him.

Royal also saw Danny Barajas advance to regionals despite dropping a 12-2 decision in the 119-pound final and fellow Knight Hank Ellis lost his final at 125-pounds, in a 3-1 decision against David Gonzales of Ki Be.

Royal’s Omar Gomez was pinned in the 160-pound final.

A total of 11 Knights remain alive in the post-season with two weeks left on the calendar.

“Our guys wrestled good,” Weeks said. “We had three freshmen in the finals and it was a pleasant surprise. I knew they could do it.”

Especially after a rocky start that saw Weeks replace Ben Orth who resigned only weeks before the season began for personal reasons.

“Its been awesome,” Week, who coached at Wahluke prior to coming to Royal, said. “Its a great group of boys, especially coming into a new school like that. We had some juniors step up and really provide senior leadership.”