Warden makes do with no dual with Reardan

WARDEN - Just to get on the mat for many wrestlers is a rush in itself.

But last night it was hard for the Warden Cougars not to admit a little disappointment in a dual meet lost.

Topping that off was that the cancelled dual would have pit the Class 2B defending state champions, Reardan, and the potential greatest challenger to the crown - Warden.

So instead, last night, the Cougars played host to what amounted to a mega mix-and-match, with a little bit of Reardan thrown in to the mix.

According to Warden head coach Rick Bowers, Reardan couldn't field a full team due to injury and other issues, so they brought the wrestlers they could to face off with athletes from Tri Cities Prep, White Swan, St. John-Endicott, Garfield-Palouse, and of course the host Cougars.

But in the end, the hype was quashed and it was time to make due.

"We wrestled them last year and lost, they are the defending state champions and have a full solid squad," Bowers said. "I was looking forward to a solid good match, so I was disappointed. The matches we had were good solid matches, we just came up short."

In the matches that saw varsity wrestlers from both schools match up, Reardan outscored Warden 21-18.

"We saw that they are real solid kids and we wrestled tough with them," Bowers said. "Everything we saw against Reardan is fixable and they are small technical mistakes. I am kind of happy about us losing because it will make us more driven for the next time we see them. It's okay today. There is only one weekend that matters in the long run (Mat Classic)."

In the matches pitting those two squads, Hector Camacho (152 pounds) split his two Reardan encounters, winning 5-0 over Charlie Eldren and losing to Wyatt Anderson via second round pin,

J.P. Martinez (119 pounds) scored a pin over Reardan's Nathan Scorci in the first round and also pinned Rygh Bailey of White Swan in the third round.

"J.P. is so intense and he doesn't want to be the next Angel Ledezma," Bowers said. "From day one he's been focused on going to the next step. He's really stepped up and has become a team leader."

Ledezma lost four straight state finals matches and the junior Martinez currently has two runners-up trophies on his resume.

Cougar Sam Suarez fell to Waylen Anderson of Reardan, in overtime. Earlier, Suarez recorded a technical fall win over Wilson Lundberg of St. John-Endicott.

Anderson had lost in overtime earlier in the evening to Warden's Cesar Rangel. Rangel also pinned Anderson's teammate, Jake Flynn in the first round.

At 171 pounds, Cougar Kenny Sullivan dropped a tough 4-2 decision to defending state champion Logan Zenker (Reardan), after pinning White Swan's Alvaro Gonzales in the first round.

"We had the shot right at the end against Zenker that we wanted, but didn't get the pull on the arm that we wanted," Bowers said. "We made one technical error that cost us but it is correctable. Kenny's intense and he hates to lose so he will fix it."

Warden won another matchup with Reardan thanks to Cruz Pruneda's second round pin at 171 pounds. Pruneda also dominated in a second round pin win over White Swan's Niko Nanez.

Sophomore Cougar Adam Hansen lost in the third round to Reardan's Niko Knezovich at 189 pounds, on a third round pin.

"Adam went to the throw and didn't get down low enough," Bowers said. "He's shown flashes of brilliance throughout the season and then just has some moments like that. We see the ability, but being young is also a big part of learning to compete at that level consistently."

Earlier, Hansen pinned Brendan Lee, of Tri Cities Prep, in the first round.

The final match of the night saw Matthew DeLeon of Warden take on Reardan's Gabe Miller in a 285 pound match which got those in attendance off their feet multiple times before the Cougar fell 5-3.

"In a crucial moment he took a shot he didn't want to take," Bowers said of DeLeon. "We've been working on outside singles and instead of doing that he went straight in. That's not keeping your composure under stress, but we can work on that."

Other notable varsity wrestlers that performed for Warden were Javier Tapia, who recorded win over Edgar Ceballas of White Swan (first round pin) and Rodrigo Alvarado of White Swan (second round pin) at 112 pounds.

"Javier's right on track for what his goals are," Bowers said. "He's wrestled well against some very tough kids. He's particularly solid on his feet and he's very quick."

Freshman Saul Hinojosa took two pin wins at 125 pounds against Thomas Newton of St. John-Endicott and Bailey.

At 130 pounds, Cougar Anthony Platas followed a second round pin of White Swan's Abel Torres with a 5-0 loss to Torres' teammate Hugo Barrajas.

Also, Bowers got a chance to watch Scott Henderson (135 pounds), who continues to battle back from injury.

"Scott is a strong wrestler and he's been fighting an old football injury," Bowers said. "Hopefully it will come together really quick. I'd say right now, he's at about 80 percent."

Henderson pinned Andrew Phillips of White Swan in the first round.