Banks Lake Brawl tourney highlights local wrestlers

COULEE CITY — The Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors hosted the Banks Lake Brawl wrestling tournament Saturday, which saw 15 schools attend, including the Ephrata Tigers and Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos. Warriors head coach Brandon Walsh said this was the 13th year they’ve held the tournament.   

“We had a ton of great parent help and community members that are former wrestlers, or parents of wrestlers, that come in and help out and make it a great event,” Walsh said.   

A mix of varsity and junior varsity teams from each school's boys and girls teams competed in a day-long tournament in the name of quality wrestling. The Warriors had a strong day, Walsh said. In total, they had 16 placers and 12 finalists between the boys and girls.   

“It was a good day for us,” Walsh said. “We had (16) wrestlers (place), eight on the boys side, and eight on the girls side. They’re wrestling really tough. There's a good chance a lot of those eight girls get to the state tournament and have a good showing, even as a team, not just individuals.”  

The Warriors had seven wrestlers finish first in their weight classes. RyLee Goetz, Kaitlyn Rimel, Macijean Hodgin, Karis Butler, Kyanna Garza, Ian McWalter and Noah Butler all finished atop their weight classes.   

Broncos Head Coach Jason Hilzer said his wrestlers can learn a lot from tournaments like this. With a younger team this season, there is more room for growth than in most seasons.   

“I always tell them that ‘You learn a lot more from losing than you do winning,’” Hilzer said. “Wrestling some of these other schools where these kids are state veterans and stuff, I think it shows them how close they are to getting to that level. That's what's going to be able to drive them forward.”  

Across the boys and girls, LRS had 10 placers and two finalists. Gabe Mungia finished first in the 175 lb class while Gunner Grimm took first in the 285 lb class. Other finalists include Carter Brierly, Autumn Cresse, Bella Najera, Will Crow, Isiah Busby, Moses Mungia, Jicaela Wade and Marcial Davis.   

As they look ahead to the rest of their season, Hilzer is confident his team will continue to improve. As they hone their skills, he is optimistic the Broncos will be well-represented in the postseason.   

“I just see them getting better and better. I think by the time that postseason comes around, I think we'll be seeing a huge improvement from the beginning of the season to the end, and I could see quite a few kids making it to the state tournament this year,” he said.   

For the Warriors, coaches are looking forward to getting more opportunities to hit the mats. According to Walsh, the boys have had four chances to wrestle due to a deep postseason run for the football team. They anticipate their schedule increasing to twice a week over the next month, said Walsh. 

“We're excited about that and looking forward to the postseason coming up. It’s (coming) a lot quicker than everybody’s anticipating, and (we’re) getting ready for that,” he said. 

Team scores

Team, Score   

Boys

Kettle Falls Boys, 260.0
Ephrata Boys, 170.5
Northwest Christian Boys, 165.0
Tonasket Boys, 139.0
ACH Boys, 114.0
Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Boys, 107.5
Brewster Boys, 102.5
Davenport Boys, 94.5
River View Boys, 83.0
Springdale Boys, 77.5
Wilbur Creston Keller Boys, 67.0
Oroville Boys, 51.0
Selkirk Boys, 22.0
Tekoa Rosalia Boys, 4.0
Inchelium Boys, 3.0
Nespelem Boys, 0.0

Girls

Tonasket Girls, 172.5
ACH Girls, 163.0
Ephrata Girls, 54.5
River View Girls, 53.0
Brewster Girls, 51.5
Tekoa Rosalia Girls, 49.0
Springdale Girls, 48.0
Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Girls, 34.0
Oroville Girls, 23.0
Nespelem Girls, 16.5
Inchelium Girls, 0.0 

    Almira/Coulee-Hartline’s Noah Butler, left, battles for wrist control against a wrestler from Ephrata. Butler finished first place in the boys 215 lb weight class Saturday.
  

    Kelson Wood, right, sizes up his opponent during the Banks Lake Brawl wrestling tournament Saturday. Head Coach Brandon Walsh said the team is excited to get more opportunities to compete going forward.