Sub-District Wrestling Roundup: Montesano, Elma take top spots at 1A Evergreen League meet

Also: Warness leads Aberdeen to second-place league finish

By Ryan Sparks • February 6, 2023 6:00 am
SUBMITTED PHOTO The Montesano Bulldogs pose for a photo after winning the league title at the 1A Evergreen sub-district meet on Saturday in Eatonville.
SUBMITTED PHOTO The Montesano Bulldogs pose for a photo after winning the league title at the 1A Evergreen sub-district meet on Saturday in Eatonville.

Montesano and Elma took home the top honors at the conclusion of the 1A Evergreen League sub-district wrestling tournament on Saturday at Eatonville High School.

Montesano emerged as the league champion, scoring 325.5 points to easily outpace second-place Elma (208) and third-place Tenino (183).

The Bulldogs were led by four individual title-winners on Saturday and had 21 total pins as a team.

Cole Ekerson (132 pounds), Sean Ryker (145), Gage Stutesman (152) and Mateo Sanchez (182) each won league titles for Montesano, which also had six second-place finishers in the tournament.

“We’re pretty young this year and some days they wrestle well and some days they don’t wrestle well. Today, they were right on,” Monte head coach Jeff Klinger said. “I’d say today, this is the best overall that we’ve looked. Twenty-two kids all wrestled the best they could and that’s what we’re hoping for.”

Klinger added his seniors – led by Ekerson, Ryker and Sanchez – set an example for his underclassmen and less-experienced grapplers to follow.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the seniors,” he said. “They stepped up and led the way and the young kids are just following them. They are really rising up.”

Elma had three weight-class winners in Xavier Espinoza (106), Blaize Salazar (126) and Austin Salazar (195).

Aidyn Johnson took second behind Espinoza as the Eagles swept the top two spots at 106 and first-year wrestler Matthew Pugel earned a spot in the district meet with a third-place finish at 145.

“Matthew Pugel’s story is one of those stories that makes coaching so rewarding,” Elma head coach Jeff Catterlin said. “He was actually my third guy at 145 and one of the guys ahead of him had to pull out for a medical reason. He battled all day and ended up in third place.”

Montesano and Elma also swept the top 1A Evergreen League awards as voted on by the league’s coaches.

Monte’s Ekerson won Outstanding Wrestler of the league for the 106-145 weight classes while teammate Mateo Sanchez and Elma’s Austin Salazar shared the same honor for the 152-285 classes.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Montesano wrestlers Mateo Sanchez, left, and Cole Ekerson, right, flank Elma’s Austin Salazar at the conclusion of the 1A Evergreen sub-district meet on Saturday at Eatonville High School. The three Harbor student-athletes were named co-Outstanding Wrestlers for the league.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Montesano wrestlers Mateo Sanchez, left, and Cole Ekerson, right, flank Elma’s Austin Salazar at the conclusion of the 1A Evergreen sub-district meet on Saturday at Eatonville High School. The three Harbor student-athletes were named co-Outstanding Wrestlers for the league.

Catterlin was voted the league’s Head Coach of the Year while his assistant Cody Sample was named Assistant Coach of the Year.

Hoquiam, which placed fourth behind Tenino, had three wrestlers win league titles on Saturday.

Grizzlies Junior Soto (113), Kingston Case (120) and Oliver Bryson (160) each won league championships with pinfall victories in their title matches.

The top four from each weight class earned a spot in the 1A Region II Tournament on Saturday in Castle Rock.

For full results, visit trackwrestling.com.

For regional meet information, visit wiaa.com.

Team scores

1, Montesano 325.5. 2, Elma 208. 3, Tenino 183. 4, Hoquiam 177.5. 5, Eatonville 134.

Regional qualifiers

106 pounds: 1, Xavier Espinoza, Elma. 2. Aidyn Johnson, Elma. 3, Adam Schmitz, Montesano. 4, Lincoln Troseth, Hoquiam.

113: 1, Junior Soto, Hoquiam. 2, Jesse Hollatz, Montesano. 3, Ulises Morelia, Hoquiam. 4, Payton Hughey, Eatonville.

120: 1, Kingston Case, Hoquiam. 2, Kole Kjesbu, Montesano. 3, Casey Daniels, Montesano. 4, Justen Koch, Eatonville.

126: 1, Blaize Salazar, Elma. 2, Gavin Root, Montesano. 3, Daniel Mino, Tenino. 4, Kaden Stott, Montesano.

132: 1, Cole Ekerson, Montesano. 2, Riley McFadden, Eatonville. 3, Kale Reeves, Elma. 4, Marvin Phillips, Tenino.

138: 1, Kasey Whitney, Eatonville. 2, Logan Avery, Hoquiam. 3, Caiden Rademacher, Elma, 4, Jessan Stolen, Montesano.

145: 1, Sean Ryker, Montesano. 2, Taye Lessard, Elma. 3, Matthew Pugel, Elma. 4, Jack Swidecki, Tenino.

152: 1, Gage Stutesman, Montesano. 2, Alan Ramirez, Hoquiam. 3, Eastin Wright, Elma. 4, Kolby Rademacher, Elma.

160: 1, Oliver Bryson, Hoquiam. 2, Kaleb Ames, Montesano. 3, Jacob Ostendorf, Eatonville. 4, Reid Pace, Montesano.

170: 1, Kysen Knox, Tenino. 2, Gabe Pyhala, Montesano. 3, Logan Shipman, Eatonville. 4, Non Chaiyakam, Hoquiam.

182: 1, Mateo Sanchez, Montesano. 2, Randall Marti, Tenino. 3, Felix Romero, Montesano.

195: 1, Austin Salazar, Elma. 2, Anthony Burtenshaw, Hoquiam. 3, Brock Maurer, Tenino. 4, Aiden McCain, Elma.

220: 1, Koy Knox, Tenino. 2, Jesse Cervantes, Montesano. 3, Kyle Caton, Montesano. 4, Guy Lowery, Tenino.

285: 1, Andres Capilla-Zamudio, Tenino. 2, Carsen Pero, Eatonville. 3, Hunter Price, Elma. 4, Rowdie Tafoya, Tenino.

Aberdeen places second in 2A Evergreen

With Talatheon Warness winning a league title and nine wrestlers qualifying for districts, the Aberdeen Bobcats placed second as a team at the 2A Evergreen sub-regional tournament on Saturday at Black Hills High School in Tumwater.

Warness earned two pinfall wins to advance to the 106-pound final and defeated Black Hills’ Roberto Rivera-Jesus via technical fall to win Aberdeen’s lone weight-class championship.

Aberdeen’s Tyler Caskey (113 pounds), Tristan Walker (138) and Aiden Watkins (145) each placed second in their respective weight class as Aberdeen scored 188.5 points, a mere half-point better than third-place Shelton.

W.F. West won the league title with 396 points.

Nine Aberdeen wrestlers placed in the top four or better to qualify for next week’s district tournament.

“I’d like to say great job to all the boys on the team. Post season is always an emotional roller-coaster. It took the whole team to make it this far,” Aberdeen head coach Jeff Hatton said. “Unfortunately, not all the boys will be wrestling next weekend. The whole team will be at practice Monday to make sure the boys who qualified for regionals have all the support they need. That’s Bobcat wrestling at its finest. We stick together until the end.”

Aberdeen will host the 2A Region III Tournament on Saturday.

For 2A Evergreen sub-regional information, visit trackwrestling.com.

For regional meet information, visit wiaa.com.

Team scores

1, W.F. West 396. 2, Aberdeen 188.5. 3, Shelton 188. 4 Tumwater 145.5. 5, Black Hills 129.5. 6, Centralia 86.5. 7, Rochester 70.

Aberdeen regional qualifiers

Talatheon Warness (106 pounds, 1st); Tyler Caskey (113, 2nd); Mikey Hatton (126, 3rd); Tristan Walker (138, 2nd); Aiden Watkins (145, 2nd); Andres Brown (152, 3rd); Erick Silviera (160, 4th); Landon Hamblin (220, 3rd); Paul Baltazar (285, 3rd).