Mule wrestlers 9th at Kalama

Last weekend the Wahkiakum Mule wrestling team competed in Kalama’s annual Rubber Chicken Tournament, placing ninth overall, the highest placing Class B school.

"Out of the teams nine wrestlers in competition, six of them earned placings," said Coach John Hannah.

The highest was Cameron Elliott (171 lbs.) who finish second overall. Other placers were Blayne Edwards (103) was fifth, Ben Miles (130) was fifth, Kyle Bergquist (140) was fourth, Jeff Vik (145) was sixth, and James Goldsmith (152) was fifth.

“Overall we did fairly well,” Hannah said. “I was happy with how we rebounded after a tough first round, but we are still giving points away too often.

“It was great to see Cameron wrestle as well as he did. We weren’t sure how he would do with the time off that he had, but he wrestled his style in every match and every round and nearly brought home the championship.”

The Mules started the day with a rough first round, dropping all matches except for one. In the second round. The Mules rebounded by winning seven of their nine matches.

“We have been tough all year in the second round,” Hannah said, “we just won’t start off ready to go like we can.”

The Mules have this week off from competition as they prepare for the district tournament a week from Saturday.

“We have a lot to do,” said Hannah. “Our district is getting better each year, and the regional tournament is about as tough as it has ever been. We need to fix the little things in our matches and make sure we don’t leave points on the mat.”

At districts, each Mule wrestler will need to place in the top four in order to move on to the regional tournament. At regionals, they will need to place in the top three for a spot at the state tournament.