Mule wrestlers headed to state

With a solid goal in mind, the Wahkiakum Mule wrestling team entered the regional wrestling tournament last Saturday at Chief Leschi in Tacoma. Bringing 12 wrestlers into the tournament, the Mules had one of the larger teams in attendance.

Also Saturday, Arial Snodgrass represented the Mules in the ladies regional tournament at Castle Rock. The ladies only have one state tournament, which all school sizes compete in.

"Arial put in a great day, but unfortunately was unable to medal this time," said Coach Matt Stacey.

At the boys tournament, 11 wrestlers competed for the Mules, and it soon became obvious that on a team level the competition was between Wahkiakum and LaConnor, Stacey said. The Mules are heavy on the lighter weights with the majority of their team at 152 or lighter. La Connor has the majority of their wrestlers in the heavy half of the brackets.

In the end, the Mules had six wrestlers progress to the state tournament this coming weekend in the Tacoma Dome.

Senior Blayne Edwards was able to maintain his regional title by defeating Raupp of Winlock again. Mason Mackey was also able to earn first place honors at regionals, wrestling against Towery of North Beach for the sixth time this season.

"Both Mason and Blayne are returning to the State tournament, this time as number one seeds," Stacey said.

Nate Cothren was also in the finals at regionals, facing Jorey Palmer, a senior from Ocosta.

"After six intense minutes of wrestling Palmer edged out Cothren," Stacey said. "Nate will be participating in his second state tournament."

Three Mules will make their first appearance at the Tacoma Dome. Freshmen Luke Stacey at 120 and Alex Johnson at 126 and sophmore Brandon Burdick each earned earned place honors and a trip to the Dome.

With their six placers finalized and their team points accumulated for the day, the Mules could only watch the rest of the finals to see if LaConnor could catch up and pull off the upset. And they did, edging out the Mules in the last weight classes.

“The difference was essentially one wrestler advancing to state,” Stacey said. “For instance, if we had been able to bring Jesus Crawford with us, based upon common opponents and his record this year, Jesus would have easily made the state tournament and earned the Mules at least 12 team points, and 12 extra points would have likely guaranteed us first place.

"Then again, we are very pleased with the team's performance this weekend. Taking a close second in the regional tournament is a real honor, and we are looking forward to a solid performance at state.”

Other Mule wrestlers who helped the boys win second place honors at the Regional wrestling tournament include Adam Vasion, Trystan Mendez, Bubba Calvert, Ben Vasion and Dylan Hansen.