Iron Man 2nd, 3rd finishes for Wahluke wrestlers

MATTAWA — Coach John Ellsworth had only two varsity wrestlers available for the Granger Iron Man Tournament Saturday, and both turned out to be iron men.

Cristian “Chapo” Garcia finished second in the 145-pound class. Reyes Ramirez took third place in the 220-pound division.

The reason for the absence of most of the team is a Dec. 12 religious celebration for the people of Mexico and Hispanics here. Ellsworth was not aware of the celebration or the date.

“I’m going to ask the AD (athletic director) not to schedule us on Dec. 12 in the future,” he said.

There was no way Wahluke could compete in the team race. The Warriors scored 35 points. Granger won with 180.

Garcia and Ramirez won their first two matches on the way to their medals, and both started out with pins.

Garcia won by pin in 25 seconds. He then won 17-3 and 10-5 decisions. That gave him a shot at the title. He lost that match by injury default.

“Cristian did an awesome job wrestling,” Ellsworth said.

Garcia pinned Thomas Baxter in the first round, out-scored his next opponent from Cascade 11-3 and sealed his berth in the first/second place finals with a 10-5 decision in the semifinal.

This was the first time in four years Wahluke had an athlete in the finals at the Granger tournament. Sadly, however, Garcia bruised his tibia while warming up before the third match. He was unable to walk by the end of the third round.

“I made the decision to forfeit the match with the hope that the bruise would subside enough to let him wrestle this week,” Ellsworth said.

Royal will wrestle at the Kittitas tournament Wednesday and have a home match Thursday.

The forfeit decision gave Garcia second place for the Granger Ironman Tournament.

“Reyes Ramirez is a sophomore this year, and he is making some great waves,” Ellsworth said.

Ramirez won his first match by pin in the first round against a boy from Sunnyside, He wrestled a great match against a boy from Zillah, who was a AA state competitor last year, and lost to him by only one point.

Dropping into the consolation bracket, Ramirez pinned his next opponent to seal a spot in the third/fourth place finals match. However, he was unable to wrestle because the opponent had reached the five-match limit. Reyes was awarded the third place medal due to his performance throughout the day.

“The team did a great job on Saturday with the five boys that wrestled,” Ellsworth said. “The rest of our team (24 wrestlers) was out due to the Catholic recognition of the Birth of Mother Mary.”

Ulysis Cruz had a pin in the first round of his JV match, and he was told he was done for the day. It was his first win of the season.