A split Montesano wrestling team once again went to two invitational tournaments, one at Rainier High School, the other at Hoquiam’s annual invitational.
A squad composed primarily of freshmen and led by seniors Mason Lutz and Kai Olson, along with coaches Darrel White and Austin Cain, traveled to Hoquiam. Ten of the 11 Bulldog wrestlers entered at Hoquiam placed in the top six. Olson looked particularly impressive, winning the 182 pound championship.
“Kai dominated his weight,” White said. “He pinned his first two opponents, and in the final, he scored an impressive technical fall (16-0) over Clover Park’s undefeated Ryan Nelson.”
Monte teammate Jacob Salstrom finish in second at 106 pounds. Lucas Salstrom (132 pounds), Isaac Pierce (152) and Mason Lutz (160) finished in third for the Bulldogs.
Monte’s coaches were particularly pleased with the level of conditioning and technical improvement displayed by their youthful charges at the Hoquiam meet. Jacob and Lucas Salstrom, Conner Odekirk and Pierce all came within a hair’s breadth of upsetting the eventual tournament champions in their weights.
“We kind of caught some of them off guard, “ Cain said.
White indicated that Pierce, a ninth-grader, gave the eventual 152 pound champion, Bodie Wharton of Aberdeen, a real scare.
“Wharten made the mistake of looking past Isaac and very nearly paid for it in what turned out to be very exciting and competitive match,” White said.
Head coach Jeff Klinger and assistant coach Jeff Catterlin led the other Bulldog squad to the very tough Justin Norton Invitational at Rainier High School. Five members of the team ended up placing.
Senior Andy Fry at 106 pounds and 138-pound sophomore Ty Ekerson each placed second. Aaron Lano (120 pounds) was fourth, and 113-pounder Cooper Johanssen and 145-pounder Jordan King tied for 5th at their weights.
Fry was on track to win the tournament when his shoulder was injured during his 7-4 semifinal win over of Colton Jackson of Lake Roosevelt, Klinger said.
“Rather than risk further injury, we decided to default the final,” Klinger said. “Andy is wrestling well, and we are confident that he could have defeated his final opponent. But an invitational championship just isn’t worth the risk at this point in the season.”
Klinger and Catterlin also had high praise for the Bulldogs other finalist, Ekerson.
“Ty did a terrific job and lost to two time state champion Kaleb Horn of Lake Roosevelt by a score of 4-1 in the final,” Catterlin said.
Klinger named Kai Olson as Bulldog Wrestler of the Week, citing his 20-3 season record and his victory at Hoquiam.
“Kai is one of the hardest workers in our practice room, and he has a great heart,” Klinger said. “Right now he is working to eliminate the positioning errors that have led to his three losses, and this weekend he wrestled a flawless match in his final. As a coaching staff, we are excited to see the progress that he is making.”
Olson placed fourth in the state at 170 pounds last season and is focused on achieving the state title that eluded him in 2018.
The Bulldog wrestlers traveled to Tenino for a league dual Wednesday, which ended too late to make this paper. They will split the squad again Saturday for invitationals at Kalama and South Bend.
The dual meet with Forks scheduled for this past week was postponed and has been rescheduled. Both Forks and Elma will travel to Monte on Jan. 24. That evening, the Bulldogs will celebrate Fan Appreciation Night, and no admission will be charged. Montesano will wrestle Forks at 5 p.m. and Elma at 6:30 p.m.
Elma’s Garcia, Carrell win titles at Fife tournament
Elma wrestlers Jacob Garcia and Jamison Carrell each won their respective weight classes as a contingent of Eagles boys and girls grapplers competed at the Fife Tournament on Saturday.
Garcia won by fall over Fife’s Gavin Knapp to claim the 220-pound title in the boys tournament.
Carrell pinned Kent Meridian’s Aurora Valdez to claim a 130-pound individual title in the girls tournament.
Other Eagles wrestlers to place at the Fife tourney were Carter Ayers (285, 3rd), Benjamin Bridge (220, 2nd), Trentin Alderman (160, 2nd) and Lennart Feldhoff (160, 5th).
