McEntire wins championship

Wahkiakum's Jared McEntire worked to pin Kalama's Devin Meyer as he earned the championship in his weight class at last weekend's Kalama Rubber Chicken Tournament. Photo courtesy of Keith Burns. McEntire wins championship

This past weekend the Mule wrestling team traveled to Kalama for their 22nd annual Rubber Chicken Invitational. The Mules finished the day with one champion and three other placers.

Jared McEntire (119 lbs) won his weight division and earned his first Rubber Chicken Championship. McEntire was seeded number one at the start of the tournament and had a first round bye. His first opponent was a Kalama wrestler who advanced to the second round. McEntire was able to score a lot of points quickly in the first two rounds of the match to build a comfortable lead before he secured the pin in the third round. His finals match was against AJ McKnight of Toledo/Winlock. McEntire and McKnight faced off two weeks earlier at Castle Rock with McKnight winning by pin. At Kalama, McKnight scored first with a takedown early in the first round, but that would be the end of his scoring. McEntire was able to quickly escape and then get his own takedown before the end of the round. During the next two rounds McEntire was able to score with escapes, takedowns, and near falls to build a large lead and eventually win the championship.

Other place winners for the Mules were Ben Miles (103 lbs), Jake Goldsmith (152 lbs), and Ben Doumit (160 lbs). Miles placed third at the tournament with a 22 second pin in his last match. Miles was close to earning a trip to the finals and a chance at the championship but lost by two points in the final seconds of his semi-finals match. Both Goldsmith and Doumit wrestled very well at the tournament with each of them having at least one dominating win. Goldsmith was fifth place and Doumit was sixth.

The Mules final home match of the regular season will be Thursday at 6 p.m. in the wrestling room. They will face White Pass, Morton, and Adna.

After this home match the Mules will have 10 days to prepare for their first post-season tournament which will be district at North Beach High School on February 2. The Mules are the defending district champion, and have finished in the top 3 nine years in a row with four championships.