Mules win district wrestling title

The Wahkiakum Mules wrestling team has begun post season performances with a powerful presentation at the sub-regional tournament. At tournament time the competition is divided by gender, with the men’s and women’s competitions taking place in separate locations. The Mules came into the weekend with 12 wrestlers able to compete at Ocasta in the men’s brackets.

Arial Snodgrass, the lone lady Mule, went to her sub-regional competition at Heritage High School where all the lady wrestlers compete in one division, regardless of school size. With the coaching of Paul Johns and Crystal Davis, Arial was able to earn third place. With that she also earned the right to compete this weekend at the ladies regional tournament in Castle Rock.

The road to the state tournament for the men’s division goes through Ocosta. The top four wrestlers progress from the sub-regional to the regional tournament which will be held this weekend at Chief LeChie. The fifth place wrestlers come along as an alternate in case of injury or other disqualifications. From the regional tournament, only the top 3 progress to the Tacoma Dome and the state tournament. The fourth place goes as an alternate.

Out of 12 wrestlers coming into subdistrict, 11 will be progressing to the regionals. Of the 11 wrestlers progressing, seven were in the finals on Saturday. Of the seven, two came home with district championships.

Starting at 113 lbs., Blayne Edwards finished the day’s competition against last year's state runner up, Winlock's Tony Raupp. They have wrestled enough to know each other quite well, and Edwards was able once again to pin Raupp. Edwards is rated number one in the state this year at 113.

In the 120 lb. division, Luke Stacey wrestled Winlock wrestler Marco Batista. Batista placed last year in the state tournament and is ranked again this year in the top four. Stacey was able to jump out to an early lead, but Batista came back and won the match.

The Mules have two wrestlers representing them at 126 lbs., Mason Mackey and Alex Johnson. Their main competition comes from North Beach. Alex wrestled Towery in the semi-finals, and lost a close fight in the end. He then wrestled back to third place. Mackey then faced Towery in the finals, and came away tournament champion after a tough and close match.

Brandon Burdick entered his first finals this year at 138 lbs. after dominating in his early rounds. According to the coaches, Burdick is “one of the most technical wrestlers in the room,”and this has enabled him to achieve great success this year. Burdick was in the midst of a close fight when he got caught in a lucky move and had to settle for second.

Sometimes it comes down to a judgment call. Sometimes there is less than universal agreement when a judgment call is made after the whistle is blown. Such was the case in the 145 lb. division final match between Wahkiakum's Nate Cothren and Palmer of Ocosta. The match was tied when time ran out, but after the final whistle the referee awarded a two point reversal to Palmer, taking Cothren to second.

Also representing the Mules at 145 lbs. was Adam Vasion. Adam had endured the same type of decision against a Raymond wrestler at the last competition. This time Vasion had an opportunity to redeem himself in a rematch. This time the goal was to win so big the referee had no say, and he did, winning by pin on his way to a third place at 145.

Wrestling at 152, Trystan Mendez also had a chance for redemption. Earlier in the year he had wrestled Camenzind of Raymond. Mendez was leading by about 10 points when a mistake cost him and he lost. On Saturday, Mendez faced the same wrestler in the semifinals and was able to bring about a reversed result; he earned the pin in 4:47 and second place.

Sometimes it takes weeks to get a rematch. For Bubba Calvert the rematch came on the same day. After a tough first round lost to Jewell of Adna, Calvert battled back through to a rematch for fifth and sixth places. This time Calvert found the pieces, turning it around for a fall in 3:33.

Jr. Ramirez has also battled this year at 170 pounds, but was unable to earn a place at this tournament.

Ben Vasion represented the Mules at 182. He is a very light 182 lb. wrestler but he has had a successful season; he placed fourth and moves on to the regionals.

The last Mule wrestler in the finals was heavyweight Dylan Hansen. He earned an entry into the finals with a pin over Fruh of North Beach. He then lost against Joe Crow of Raymond in the finals, ending up with second for the day.

This commanding performance by the Mule wrestlers, with the number of places as well as the number of pins, earned the team the District 4 B wrestling title. The Mule team score was 185 points, with their next closest competition being Adna at 160.