In wrestling tournament play, bonus points earned from pinfalls can mean the difference between hoisting a team championship and finishing in second place.

That was the case for Montesano as the Bulldogs earned the boys team title at the 2022 Grays Harbor Championships on Saturday at Sam Benn Gym in Aberdeen.

Montesano recorded 36 total pinfall victories from its 25 competitors, including two falls by 138-pound champion Cole Ekerson and two falls and a technical fall victory by 182-pound title-winner Mateo Sanchez, giving the Bulldogs 161.5 points to edge second-place Lincoln (Tacoma) by just three points.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano’s Cole Ekerson, left, squares off against Ocosta’s Aiden Davis during the 138-pound final of the Grays Harbor Championships on Saturday at Sam Benn Gym in Aberdeen.

Ekerson — a 1A state finalist last season — led the way with 25.5 points, earning key bonus points when he pinned Ocosta’s Aiden Davis in the title match.

Fellow state-finalist Sanchez was close behind with 24 points, scoring two pinfall victories on the day and defeating Tenino’s Randi Marti 7-2 in a fiercely-competitive final.

Monte’s Kaden Stott (120 pounds, 2nd), Jesse Hollatz (120, 4th), Sean Ryker (145, 3rd), Zane Dillard (106, 2nd), Adam Schmitz (106, 3rd), Cole Kjesbu (126, 4th), Gabe Phyala (170, 4th), Logan Roberts (195, 4th) and Kyle Caton (220, 4th) each placed in the top four to help the Bulldogs earn the team trophy.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD The Montesano boys wrestling program took home the team title at the Grays Harbor Championships on Saturday in Aberdeen.

“We actually have a huge team this year for us and to top it off, we’re really young,” Monte head coach Jeff Klinger said, adding he has 38 student-athletes on the roster. “We have some hammers up top with Cole and Mateo and we expect them to do their job. I thought as a team we wrestled really well today. We were pleasantly surprised to win a championship.”

Klinger said winning an overall team title was not high on Monte’s priority list as the young Bulldogs are more focused on improving before the postseason, so Saturday’s victory was unexpected.

“We hadn’t really set any goal of trying to win anything yet since we’ve been trying to get better,” he said, noting that the performance of his third/fourth-place finishers proved to be key in the victory. “They showed a pretty good side of themselves today. We had a lot of kids step up and I’m just really proud of how they’ve taken to my assistant coaches. … They have done an excellent job getting our kids ready to wrestle.”

Aberdeen placed third overall with 152 points, led by victories from Aidan Watkins, Talatheon Warness and Mikey Hatton.

Watkins battled standout North Beach wrestler Dominik Jerome in a fast-paced, athletic matchup that saw nearly 30 points scored between the two combatants. A big third round led to Watkins winning via technical fall 22-7.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD North Beach’s Dominik Jerome, left, and Aberdeen’s Aiden Watkins compete in the 152-pound final of the Grays Harbor Championships on Saturday at Sam Benn Gym in Aberdeen.

Warness claimed the 106-pound title with a pinfall victory over Dillard.

In what was arguably the most thrilling match of the finals, Hatton avoided two early close pin attempts by Lincoln’s William Richardson and rallied from down five points to tie the match at 7-7.

In sudden-death overtime, Hatton defended a shoot attempt and turned it into a two-point takedown to earn the 9-7 sudden victory and 132-pound championship.

“Mentally, I know I’ve pushed myself beyond my limits,” said Hatton, who never appeared flustered when put in precarious situations by Richardson during the match. “I knew I had more mind-power to push to the end and get the match done.”

Hatton’s stamina also proved to be crucial in victory as Richardson appeared to begin to tire after throwing a proverbial kitchen sink’s worth of techniques at the Aberdeen sophomore.

“Usually in my matches, I get down (on points) in the beginning,” he said. “But I know that I have the better endurance and a strong mind, so I just push and come back in the end.”

North Beach’s Wyeland Lomedico earned a championship with a pinfall victory over Hoquiam’s Kingston Case in the 126-pound final match.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD North Beach’s Wyeland Lomedico, background, grapples with Hoquiam’s Kingston Case in the 126-pound final of the Grays Harbor Championships on Saturday at Sam Benn Gym in Aberdeen.

Lucas Swogger won via pinfall over Ocosta’s Andrew Martin to win the 145-pound title and lead Willapa Harbor to a fifth-place finish with 81 points.

Top placements are as follows:

Team standings (Top 5)

1, Montesano 161.5. 2, Lincoln (Tacoma) 158.5. 3, Aberdeen 152. 4, Tenino 93. 5, Willapa Harbor 81.

Weight-class Results

106 pounds — 1, Talatheon Warness, Aberdeen. 2, Zane Dillard, Montesano. 3, Adam Schmitz, Montesano. 4, Lincoln Troseth, Hoquiam.

113 — 1, Giovanni Araica, Lincoln (Tacoma). 2, Junior Soto, Hoquiam. 3, Javian Blessing, Lincoln (Tacoma). 4, Rylan Calica, Rochester.

120 — 1, Andrew Flores, Lincoln (Tacoma). 2, Kaden Stott, Montesano. 3, Tyler Caskey, Aberdeen. 4, Jesse Hollatz, Montesano.

126 — 1, Wyeland Lomedico, North Beach. 2, Kingston Case, Hoquiam. 3, Dennis Mendoza, Lincoln (Tacoma). 4, Cole Kjesbu, Montesano.

132 — 1, Mikey Hatton, Aberdeen. 2, William Richardson, Lincoln (Tacoma). 3, Kevin Hovis, Willapa Valley. 4, Rique Gadwa, Aberdeen.

138 — 1, Cole Eckerson, Montesano. 2, Aiden Davis, Ocosta. 3, Tristan Walker, Aberdeen. 4, Jack Dore, Aberdeen.

145 — 1, Lucas Swogger, Willapa Valley. 2, Andrew Martin, Ocosta. 3, Sean Ryker, Montesano. 4, Reese Calica, Rochester.

152 — 1, Aiden Watkins, Aberdeen. 2, Dominik Jerome, North Beach. 3, Connor Reyes, Willapa Valley. 4, Dre Brown, Aberdeen.

160 — 1, Dustin Wallace, Franklin Pierce. 2, Eastin Wright, Elma. 3, Jacob Allison, Aberdeen. 4, Isaac Daniels, Tenino.

170 — 1, Kysen Knox, Tenino. 2, Erick Silviera, Aberdeen. 3, Christian Lopez, North Beach. 4, Gabe Phyala, Montesano.

182 — 1, Mateo Sanchez, Montesano. 2, Randall Marti, Tenino. 3, Cody Strozyk, Willapa Valley. 4, Ezekiel Isaacson, Franklin Pierce.

195 — 1, Navarre Dixon, Lincoln (Tacoma). 2, Anthony Burtenshaw, Hoquiam. 3, Brock Maurer, Tenino. 4, Logan Roberts, Montesano.

220 — 1, Fa’afetai Fifita, Lincoln (Tacoma). 2, DreTerrant Sio-Fetaui, Lincoln (Tacoma). 3, Brian Gatewood, Lincoln (Tacoma). 4, Kyle Caton, Montesano.

285 — 1, Derryck Wallace, Franklin Pierce. 2, Dawan Johnson, Franklin Pierce. 3, Sam Parker, Rochester. 4, Bradley Amsden, Lincoln (Tacoma).

285B — 1, Owen Gillaspie, Rochester. 2, Logan Deardorff, Lincoln (Tacoma).