7 Mule wrestlers head to state

Seven members of the Wahkiakum Mule wrestling team have qualified for this week's state Mat Classic Tournament in the Tacoma Dome.

They are Kevin O'Connor, Jared McEntire, Joel Fudge, Brady Johns, Jon Murphy, James Lewis, and Chris Mendez.

As a team the Mules placed third in the 1B/2B wrestling tournament.

"The Mules led 12 other schools to place third, and only fell behind Concrete and Darrington," said Coach John Hannah.

Five Mules wrestled in the finals and they brought home three championships. Champions for the Mules were Johns (135 lbs), Lewis (152 lbs), and Mendez (160 lbs). This tied the most number of Regional Champions for the Mules since the 2000 season, Hannah said.

Other finalists for the Mules were O'Connor (103 lbs) and McEntire (112 lbs); both placed second.

Besides the five finalists, the Mules qualified two others for the state tournament. Murphy (145 lbs) placed third; Fudge (140 lbs) placed fourth.

Zack Schnieder (140 lbs) placed fifth and just missed the state cut of top four; he will go to state as an alternate.

"In all the Mules qualified seven for the tournament, plus one alternate," Hannah said. "The seven qualifiers ties the most competitors for the Mules. They last accomplished this in 2005 and 2000."

The state tournament will begin Friday at 10 a.m, and restart at 4 p.m. On Saturday it will continue at 10 a.m., restart at 3 p.m., and conclude around 10 p.m.