The White River High boys placed 10th during the weekend’s Mat Classic, piling up 52 team points along the way.
The team’s top individual performance was turned in by Brandon Short, who placed third at 145 pounds. Finishing fourth were Trevor Kurtz and Chris Skinner, who wrestled at 132 and 182 pounds, respectively.
Short opened with a 14-4 verdict over Christian Mouat of Lynden and followed up with a 6-4 decision over Eric Garza of Othello. A loss to Kody Ergeson of Selah sent him to the loser’s bracket, where he pinned Sumner’s Jed Schliesman and Sedro Woolley’s Jacob Farrell.
Kurtz started with two victories before losing to eventual champion Çole Harris of Deer Park. Once in the lower bracket, Kurtz picked up a victory over Orting’s Rico Ybarra before falling in the third-fourth battle to Brian Burchett of Klahowya.
Skinner opened Mat Classic with two pins before falling in the semifinals. He bounced back with a victory over Wapato’s Ricardo Rodriguez and finished with an injury default to Colville’s Chandler Knight.
Also making a state tournament appearance for White River were Mason Hamilton, 106 pounds, and Cody Schwab, 120. They suffered defeats in the first two rounds and were eliminated.
Girls
White River High’s girls placed sixth and Enumclaw’s girls finished eighth during the state wrestling championships.
The big meet, bringing together schools of all sizes, was staged Friday and Saturday in the Tacoma Dome.
A top story emerging from the meet was turned in by White River senior Dylan Fagan, who finished third at 155 pounds. She is now among just a handful of Evergreen State girls to placed four times in the state meet.
White River had two girls reach the finals to gain sixth-place team honors. Samantha Mitchell went unscathed at 170 pounds to claim an individual championship and Hannah Lewandoski also made her way to the championship bout, racking up valuable team points on the way to a second-place finish.
The 235-pound finals were an all-Plateau affair, with familiar foes Lewandoski and Enumclaw’s KC Moulden taking to the mat. Moulden won by fall at the 3:08 mark.
Also for Enumclaw, Danielle Cormier battled her way to a fourth-place finish at 145 pounds.
