Royal adds regional title, sends 9 wrestlers to state
Ted Escobar/The Sun Tribune - Abraham Medina, Royal’s lone champion at the regional wrestling tournament, just before he flattens his semifinal opponent at 126 pounds for a pin Saturday.
Ted Escobar/The Sun Tribune- Eduardo Rodriguez of Royal gets a grip on his semifinal opponent on the way to a 12-3 decision.
Ted Escobar/The Sun Tribune - Royal’s Kevin Pastor scores a first round pin en route to third place at 138 pounds.
Ted Escobar/The Sun Tribune - Royal freshman Lorenzo Myrick starts to turn his first opponent over for a pin in the 152-pound class. He finished third and made it to state.
ROYAL CITY — If there is one thing the boys on the Royal High School wrestling team have learned, it’s that every effort, no matter how seemingly small, counts.
All 16 Royal boys who participated in the regional wrestling tournament scored team points to take first place over the favored Castle Rock program, 204-190. Nine of those boys placed and are advancing to state. Four more boys will go as alternates at their weights. All, except one, placed at regionals.
First-year Royal head coach Patrick Mitchell was beside himself after the meet. He had no idea how far his boys could go, if they’d even win district. He thought up to four could make it to state.
“We went into the tournament with the goal of winning it despite only having 16 wrestlers to Castle Rock’s 21,” Mitchel said. “We had lost to them at both the Royal Christmas Tournament and the Jim Bair Tournament in Castle Rock. So, for all of the wrestlers to compete and score team points, as well as not give any up was huge.”
The team scores were Royal 204, Castle Rock, 190, Warden 180, Connell 134.5, Kiona-Benton 130.5, Stevenson, 97, White Salmon, 79, La Center 53.5, Kings Way Christian, 44.5, River View 36, Wahluke 20, Burbank, 14.
“Wrestling is an individual sport, but we talk a lot about how good individuals challenge each other to be great, and great individuals make a great team,” Mitchell said.
Capturing the lone title for Royal was Abraham Medina at 126 pounds. He swept his opponents with three pins, including the final.
Pins were crucial to the Royal victory. They added to the advancement point total. The boys scored 19 of them. They also scored four technical falls.
The results for Royal individuals were:
106 Rodolfo Flores 5th place, 2 pins.
120 Eduardo Rodriguez 2nd place, 1 pin, 1 major decision.
126 Abraham Medina 1st place, 3 pins including the final.
138 Kevin Pastor 3rd place, 1 pin, 1 technical fall.
138 Regan Callahan 5th place, 1 pin, 1 decision.
145 Addin Felker 3rd place, 2 pins.
145 Daniel Bonilla 4th place, 2 technical falls.
152 Lorenzo Myrick 3rd place, 2 pins, 1 overtime win.
152 Jose Galindo 6th place, 1 decision.
160 Jacob Joslin 6th place 1 technical fall.
170 Jack Diaz 5th place, 1 pin, 1 decision.
182 C.J. Quintero 2nd place, 1 pin, 1 major decision.
195 Jose Jimenez 3rd place, 2 pins, 1 major decision.
195 Martel Flores did not place
220 Ryder Eilers 4th place, 1 pin.
285 Logan Gomez 5th, 2 pins.
“The team has been awesome at overcoming adversity all year and their resilience makes me proud to be their coach,” Mitchell said. “I would like to mention the great support of all of our coaches, fans, and community for coming out and supporting our wrestlers at the Regional tournament.”