ACH Warriors send 8 wrestlers to regionals
Almira/Coulee-Hartline sophomore William Allsbrook takes on Wilbur-Creston-Keller’s Ruger Angstrom at Saturday’s Northeast 1B/2B District Championships.
IAN BIVONA/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Almira/Coulee-Hartline sophomore Grayson Beal will head to regional competition on Saturday as an alternate.
COULEE CITY — The Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warrior boys wrestling team will send eight wrestlers to the 1B/2B regional competition in Reardan this weekend after placing inside the top five at Saturday’s Northeast B Wrestling Championships.
As a team, the Warriors finished second in the competition, behind first-place Chewelah.
“We were happy with that finish,” ACH Head Coach Brandon Walsh said. “For us, we have 10 kids – that’s a good number for a B school. We lost to Chewelah as a team; Chewelah brought 15 kids to the tournament. The numbers game just didn’t go our way in that regard, but we were really with how we competed as a team.”
The Warriors hosted the district tournament, which featured eight teams.
“It was a fun day, we were excited to be able to host the tournament,” Walsh said.
Sophomore Jack Molitor (120), eighth-grader Porter Wood (126), senior Tristen Wood (145), junior Everett Wood (152), eighth-grader Noah Butler (170), junior John Pierce (182), and sophomore Paul Stout (195) all qualified for regional competition. Sophomore Grayson Beal (152) will be an alternate.
Tristen Wood didn’t have “any close matches” according to Walsh, and earned a district title in the 145-pound weight class.
“(Tristen Wood’s) been super motivated; he’s had a great year,” Walsh said. “I think he’s 35-2 on the season – last year ended kind of disappointing for him, and he’s a senior so he knows this is his last shot. He’s just on a mission every tournament, and (Saturday) was no different. I’m expecting the same from him next weekend, he’s wrestling really good this year.”
Molitor, Porter Wood, Everett Wood and Stout all wrestled in the finals, ultimately coming up short.
“It hurts to lose those ones, so that’ll certainly be a motivator for these kids moving forward,” Walsh said. “Just in terms of the way they prepare this week, and when they wrestle next week.”
Competition at the regional tournament in Reardan begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday. With a younger team, Walsh said the Warriors are enjoying the moment.
“They’re excited,” Walsh said. “We’ve got a bunch of young guys, only got one senior. A lot of these younger kids, a couple first-year kids, this is their first experience at that tournament. They’re pretty excited to make it that far, and we’re looking forward to seeing what we can make out of it.”
Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.
