Montesano High School’s wrestling team is “ready and raring to go” for the postseason, coach Jeff Klinger said.

Klinger says the team has been working hard to prepare for this weekend’s tournament, subregionals at the Hub in Centralia, which features all Evergreen Conference teams. The top four finishers in each weight class advance to the regional tournament the following weekend in Castle Rock. The regional event includes qualifiers from the Evergreen and Class 1A Trico conferences. The top four qualifiers from there advance to Mat Classic XXXI Feb. 15 and 16 in Tacoma.

Of Montesano’s 22 entrants in this weekend’s tournament, there are 15 sophomores or freshmen.

In last weekend’s action, eleven Bulldogs, primarily ninth and 10th graders, traveled to Klahowya High School for an invitational tournament. Ten of Monte’s eleven entrants won matches at Klahowya and four ended up placing. Jacob Salstrom and Kenny Koonrad both placed third while Isaiah Pierce and Stephen Rademacher placed fifth.

Koonrad and Rademacher were named co-Bulldog wrestlers of the week. Koonrad, a ninth-grader, and Rademacher, a 10th-grader, were successful despite wrestling primarily seasoned juniors and seniors. Koonrad won four matches by pin and lost one by decision. Rademacher lost his semifinal match and defaulted to fifth place in the consolations but his performance was particularly notable because he is a first-year wrestler.

“This is a sport where experience is critical to success,” assistant coach Darrel White said. “Stephen’s progress over the past two weeks has been outstanding.”

Assistant coach Jeff Catterlin indicated that several opposing coaches approached him and expressed amazement that the youthful Bulldog team was performing so well in the tough varsity field. One coach even joked that he would give the Pierce twins a “full ride” if they would transferring to his school.

Andy Fry and Jordan King were the wrestlers of the week for the previous week.