Mules win 2 titles in district tourney

Wahkiakum Mule wrestlers won two championships at last weekend's District 4 Tournament, and finished second overall.

The Mules had a great day," said Coach John Hannah, "and finished only one win away from claiming the district championship for the fifth time this decade."

The wrestlers started off with the first six pins of the tournament, he said.

Ben Miles and Kyle Bergquist each won the district championship at their weight class. Other finalists for the Mules were Blayne Edwards, Mitchell Vik, Levi Cothren, and Jeff Vik.

“It was a great day for the six finalists we had,” said Hannah. “Ben and Kyle worked hard all year and it was great to see them claim their championship.”

Other placers for the Mules were Adam Vasion and Cameron Elliott who each placed third, and James Goldsmith who placed fourth. Wrestlers needed to finish fourth or higher to advance to this week's regional tournament.

“One of the great stories of the day for us was how well our first year kids did at districts,” said Hannah. “Blayne, Mitchell, Adam, and Cameron are all first year wrestlers in our high school program, and they were all able to place and move on to next week’s tournament.

“We still have room for improvement. It was a great day for us, but we left some valuable points on the mat and need to clean up our style this week. Regionals will have four teams from last year’s top ten, and we will need to take advantage of every opportunity if we want to move some of the guys on to state.”

The regional tournament is Saturday, 10 a.m., at Tacoma Baptist High School. In order to move on to state, each wrestler will need to place third or better.