Mule wrestlers 3rd, Cothren 1st at tourney

Twice a year the Mule wrestlers take on the weather and the roads to head east of the mountains and test the eastern competition. This year's first trip was to Pomeroy.

The weekend started with mix and matches on Friday night verses various eastern schools. Then Saturday morning, the Pomeroy tournament started with schools from Idaho and Oregon also in attendance as well as some perennial powerhouses such as Kittitas. Saturday also offered several rematches from Friday night.

Leading the team, Nate Cothren was able to rise to the top, winning a grudge match at the 160 lb. weight class 10-5 over Ryan Smith from Pomeroy. Trystan Mendez also was able to retake a Pomeroy wrestler. Friday night, in an unfortunate situation, Trystan lost to Tyler King but he was able to come back on Saturday and win by pin in 3:10. Mendez took second on the day. Luke Stacey (126) also took second, pinning the number one seed from White Swan in 5:05.

The day held several other exciting moments for the Mules. Dallas Gott took third at 106. She got her first pin and her first technical fall (a 15 point win). Jr. Ramirez was also able to bring home two pins at 170 this weekend and took fourth. Adam Vasion, who also wrestled at 160, took fourth in the fullest weight class of the day. Mason Mackey took fourth at 145, a weight class with several returning state competitors. Jesus Crawford, who continues to wrestle up for the team at 138, took fifth, as did Alex Johnson and Brandon Burdick.

This Friday the team will be heading over to the ACH Invitational for their second eastern weekend.