Nine locals qualify for 1B/2B bracket at Mat Classic
TACOMA — Almira/Coulee-Hartline (ACH) boys wrestling was recently awarded an academic state championship from the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.
The hope is to add an athletic state championship to the mix after this weekend.
“We’re not gonna go over to Tacoma and compete for a team title in any given year in terms of the competition side of things,” head coach Brandon Walsh said. “We just can’t hang with the Tonaskets that’s gonna bring 15 kids or Liberty or some of those bigger 2B schools, so for us to get that kind of team recognition is kind of a cool thing.”
ACH is sending five wrestlers to Tacoma this weekend: Everett Wood, Iree Goodman, Tristen Wood, Patrick Rueff and Will Hahn; a nice mix that ranges from an 106-pounder all the way to heavyweight.
“We have 11 boys so we got about half of them into the tournament and that’s pretty good for us,” Walsh said. “Five is the best we’ve ever had. We’ve had a couple other years in the past where we took five, except for last year when everybody went.”
Hahn has the most pedigree out of the five qualified Warriors. The senior finished fourth last season and comes into this tournament ranked third. Hahn has a possible matchup with second-ranked Nicholas Schurger of Mary Walker in the semifinals; Schurger was a state runner-up last season and has beaten Hahn all four times they’ve met this season. Returning state champion Charlie Harrington of Liberty is on the opposite side of the bracket.
“We’re looking for him to have a good weekend,” Walsh said. “He got a pretty good draw in terms of a path into the finals, hopefully, if we can wrestle well. We’re gonna have to beat one of those higher ranked kids at some point to get there, but hopefully we can pull it off when it counts.”
Wood is an eighth-grader who was a regional runner-up last weekend to reach Mat Classic.
“We’ll see how he performs on the big stage, but, man, he’s just been solid all season,” Walsh said. “He’s a good, little wrestler — very athletic for a young kid. Whether he gets a medal or not, it’s just cool that he qualified as an eighth-grader and I’m excited to see what he can get done as a young kid.”
Lind-Ritzville/Sprague qualified four wrestlers for Mat Classic. Third-ranked Johnny Ryan will skip straight to the second round after receiving a bye. Douglas Morris is a returning state participant and will face third-ranked Chase Flynn of South Bend in the first round.
Almira/Coulee-Hartline first round matches
106: Everett Wood vs. Isaac Rodriguez (Mabton)
113: Iree Goodman vs. Levi Swann (Rainer)
132: Tristen Wood vs. Collin Davis (Rainier)
195: Patrick Rueff vs. Granger Sutton (Tonasket)
285: Will Hahn vs. Bryan Sparks (Ilwaco)
Lind-Ritzville/Sprague first round matches
106: Brandon Davis vs. Aksel Espeland (Darrington)
113: Johnny Ryan receives bye
120: Tyson Ramsey vs. Tristan Walker (Ilwaco)
195: Douglas Morris vs. Chase Flynn (South Bend)