By the slimmest of margins, the Aberdeen Bobcats emerged victorious at the Grays Harbor Championships on Saturday at Aberdeen High School.
The Bobcats won five individual weight classes and scored 239.5 points, just one point better than second-place North Thurston, which also had five weight-class champions in the meet.
“I think they wrestled great,” Bobcats head coach Jeff Hatton said of his team. “I’ve got a group of young boys and a group of old kids and instead of rebuilding I guess we are kind of reloaded and keep on wrestling. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD The Aberdeen boys wrestling team won the team title at the Grays Harbor Championships on Saturday at Aberdeen High School. The Bobcats won by one point over North Thurston.
Aberdeen senior Michael Hatton won his fourth Grays Harbor Championship by defeating Willapa Harbor’s Lucas Swogger via fall in a competitive 165-pound final.
Aberdeen’s Ryder Lessard (120 pounds), Glenny Black (144), Erick Silveira (175) and Landon Hamblin (285) also won weight-class championships on Saturday.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen’s Michael Hatton (top) grapples with Willapa Harbor’s Lucas Swogger during the 165-pound final match at the Grays Harbor Championships on Saturday at Aberdeen High School.
“He wrestled really well in the finals,” Coach Hatton said of his son, Michael Hatton, noting the father-son duo are now both four-time winners at the meet. “He won it all four years and that’s what I did when I was in school, so that is pretty awesome. … All the way through, in almost every weight class, we had really good wrestling and I just couldn’t be more proud of the kids.”
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen’s Erick Silveira escapes the grasp of Port Angeles’ Oliver Martinez in the 175-pound title match at the Grays Harbor Championships on Saturday at Aberdeen High School.
Hoquiam placed third overall with 158.5 points.
The Grizzlies had four weight-class winners, including standouts Junior Soto (126), Burton Chavis (132) and Oliver Bryson (190).
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam’s Oliver Bryson (left) defeated North Thurston’s Charles Miller via 20-3 technical fall in the 190-pound final at the Grays Harbor Championships on Saturday at Aberdeen High School.
Hoquiam senior Kingston Case had arguably the grittiest performance of the finals when he decided to continue his 150-pound title match against Ocosta’s Ronin Rutzer after suffering what appeared to be a severely sprained ankle in the final match of the night.
After being attended to by coaches and medical personnel, Case stood up and continued though obviously limping and in pain.
“I rolled it pretty badly,” Case said. “But I just had to keep on going. I got up the first time and just had to keep on going. … I was in pain, but it was mostly when I was bending, kind of in a running position. … But just putting weight on it wasn’t too bad so I was able to finish the match.”
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam’s Kingston Case (bottom) suffers an ankle injury while wrestling Ocosta’s Ronin Rutzer during the 150-pound title match at the Grays Harbor Championships on Saturday at Aberdeen High School. Case would continue on to win the match 11-9.
The senior was able to hold on to win an 11-9 decision over the worthy Rutzer for a memorable victory.
“It was the last match of the night and I knew I had the whole winter break to rest up,” Case said. “I was just happy to wrestle and finish off the night with a win. … (The victory) felt pretty good, but taking off the shoe was the worst part. It hurt pretty badly.”
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Team results
1, Aberdeen, 239.5. 2, North Thurston, 238.5. 3, Hoquiam, 158.5. 4, Port Angeles, 75. 5, Ocosta, 63.5. 6, North Beach, 56. 7, Willapa Harbor, 54.5. 8, Pe Ell, 27. 9, Taholah, 6. 10, Friday Harbor, 4.
Individual results
106 pounds: 1, William Bucholz, North Thurston. 2, Devon Bamog, North Thurston. 3, Noah Stotler, Aberdeen. 4, Cash Gersitz, North Beach.
113: 1, Rylan Tranfiguracion, North Thurston. 2, Kyson Hendrickson, Aberdeen. 3, Keagen Billie-Sansom, Hoquiam. 4, Keanu Kumagai, North Thurston.
120: 1, Ryder Lessard, Aberdeen. 2, Roman Tadique, Aberdeen. 3, Zechariah Egrubay, North Thurston. 4, Gibran Garcia, Aberdeen.
126: 1, Junior Soto, Hoquiam. 2, Jaidon Williams, Aberdeen. 3, Cruz Ortiz-Cruz, Hoquiam. 4, Justice Larsson, Hoquiam.
132: 1, Burton Chavis, Hoquiam. 2, Alex Mendoza, Aberdeen. 3, Wylen Howard, North Thurston. 4, Carsten Williams, North Thurston.
138: 1, Michael Tabil, North Thurston. 2, Ronny Vaiau, North Thurston. 3, Adan Martinez-De Jesus, Aberdeen. 4, Israel Rosales, Hoquiam.
144: 1, Glenny Black, Aberdeen. 2, Adonis Hammonds, Aberdeen. 3, Conner Reyes, Willapa Harbor. 4, Raidynn Nieto-Hiatt, North Thurston.
150: 1, Kingston Case, Hoquiam. 2, Ronin Rutzer, Ocosta. 3, Donovan Bowles, North Thurston. 4, Kale Donovick, Ocosta.
157: 1, Angelo Delgado, North Thurston. 2, Logan Bowles, North Thurston. 3, Andrew Disher, Port Angeles. 4, Marc Avila, Aberdeen.
165: 1, Michael Hatton, Aberdeen. 2, Lucas Swogger, Willapa Harbor. 3, Steven Bligh, North Thurston. 4, Winston Kaikaka, Hoquiam.
175: 1, Erick Silveira, Aberdeen. 2, Oliver Martinez, Port Angeles. 3, Ben Tackett, Ocosta. 4, Jerry Jeremiah, Hoquiam.
190: 1, Oliver Bryson, Hoquiam. 2, Charles Miller, North Thurston. 3, Tycen Ross, North Beach. 4, Hunter Harris, Pe Ell.
215: 1, Henry Hovde, North Thurston. 2, Trevin Stewart, Aberdeen. 3, Adin Wollum, North Beach. 4, Bryan Sanchez, Aberdeen.
285: 1, Landon Hamblin, Aberdeen. 2, Konner Jack, North Thurston. 3, Jimmie Gertson, Aberdeen. 4, Isaiah Rogers, Willapa Harbor.
