Spaulding-Jimenez and Monroe win district wrestling championships
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
A very young Timberwolf wrestling team is sending eight wrestlers to the Regional tournament this Saturday, in Zillah following a great District performance that produced championships by Torey Spaulding- Jimenez and Billy Monroe.
Four of the eight are sophomores and one, Wade Gaston, is a freshman.
Another freshman, Marcos Sanchez is an alternate to the tournament at 160 pounds.
Monroe, a senior, had to win just two matches for the 171 pound title. The first was a second round pin over Jason Omelas. The second match was a 4-1 win over Zillah’s Kyle Kluever. Monroe started on top after a scoreless first round. Kluever escaped and looked like he might take Monroe down as he was in on a leg. Monroe fought off the move and got behind Kluever with an arm lock and take down. Monroe scored a reversal in the third round and rode out the clock for the win.
For Spaulding-Jimenez, the District title at 135 pounds is just the latest step on the way for a shot at State. In 2008, the then freshman, was an alternate to the Regional tournament. Last year, a broken leg prevented him from getting to District. This time he scored two pins for the title. The championship match was against Caleb Resendez, of Granger. Both wrestlers fought off two take-down attempts to finish the first round with no score. Spaulding-Jimenez started round two on top. Resendez got up and threw the Goldendale wrestler, but Spaulding-Jimenez rolled through it and stayed on top. With 1:04 left in the round, Spaulding-Jimenez turned Resendez and pinned him.
Two other Goldendale wrestlers, Braydon Ross and Kurt Wilkins were also in title matches, finishing second. Both were Regional qualifiers as freshmen in 2009 and they both went on to wrestle at State.
Ross will compete at 160 pounds after going 2-1, all on points. The second match was a tough, overtime win over Tanner Slick, of Naches Valley. Slick would go on to defeat Sanchez, Goldendale’s second entry at 160 pounds. The final match against Matthew Macias, of Granger was decided when Ross tried a high risk reversal attempt that resulted in back points for the Spartan. The final score was 10-1.
Wilkins cruised to the final with pins over Jon Whitney, of Naches Valley and Abidan Duarte, of Granger. Wilkins chose down against Kane Koerner in round two of the championship bout. The Leopard, who also wrestled at State 2009, was able to lock up a cradle and roll Wilkins for a second round pin.
It was a fired up Bare who took on Joseph Wells, of Naches Valley in a must win match at 152 pounds. The sophomore lost his opening match to J. D. Ring, also of Naches Valley, by a fall which Bare disputed. The unfortunate Wells’ same blue and yellow was like the red cape to the bull. Bare was still fuming at the end of the first round, up 8-0, but ended the match 36 seconds later with a pin. In the final match for third, Bare pinned Mabton’s Carlos Gastleum in 2:25 for the win.
Gaston had wins over Angel Aguilar, of Highland, and Zillah’s Cesar Reyes to qualify for Regional. It was a great come back for the freshman who lost mat time earlier in the year with a hand injury. He lost to Abel Morales, of Granger, for fourth.
Another surprise qualifier was Austin Jones. Jones, who has the strength to dominate opponents, has struggled with technique and an over-revved engine this year. He wrestled a better pace on Saturday and finished fourth after losing his final match to Sergio Sanchez, of Zillah.
Also finishing fourth was the team’s other senior, Kyle Ross. Ross was an alternate to Regional in 2009. He scored wins by pin over Stuart Stewart, of Cle Elum, and Jerry Atkins, of Zillah, before losing the final against Eric Huesca, of Mabton. The third round score was 3-2 for Huesca following a Ross escape. Ross made several attempts to throw the Viking wrestler in the final minute, but Huesca was able to stall out for the win.
Sanchez finished with an overtime win of his own, against Matt Argo, of Zillah. The win came when a tired Sanchez muscled up and turned a takedown attempt by Argo into one of his own plus back points for the win. Should one of the top four entries back out of Regional due to injury, Sanchez will make his first trip.
Others who wrestled in Granger, but came up short of qualifying for Regional were Kirk Giese, who went 1-2, Zack Shattuck, 0-2 and Zack Smith, 0-3.
Timberwolves give up home court but are still in the SCAC playoffs
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
Weekend losses to Naches Valley and Zillah put the Timberwolf boys and girls in a difficult situation as the season draws to an end. The losses kicked both teams out of second place and they will likely finish the season in fourth, but still in the playoffs.
The Ranger boys were pumped up, looking to avenge the loss in Goldendale, which they did not take very well. The Timberwolves had a difficult time scoring with Reed Lindhe shut out and Chase Wing held to five points. Devon Casey and Kaden Milliren each scored 12 points, but the game was lost in the middle quarters when the Rangers pushed out to a 21 point lead.
Zillah won the Saturday night game with rebounding and free throws on a night neither team shot well. Goldendale scored first on a Chase Wing three-point shot, but the Wolves scored just one more point in the quarter. The lead was narrowed to 26-20 at half following 50 percent shooting by Goldendale in the second quarter. Zillah shot poorly in the second half, but they would go to the foul line 22 times and they knocked down 14 to hold off a great Timberwolf rally. Devon Casey tied the score at 43 with a three-point shot and the game was in doubt at 50-48 with 30 seconds left. The Leopards scored four of their final six from the free throw line, and won the game 56-48.
The Lady Timberwolves worked their way back into the game against Naches Valley, after a poor second quarter, but couldn’t sustain the momentum and lost 44-40. Lexi Cameron scored 13 points and Sadie Shattuck contributed 11 points for Goldendale.
It was another slow start against the Leopards, and although the girls made a strong third quarter charge, the lead was still 17 at the start of the fourth quarter and the Leopards held on for a 61-42 win.
Win and a draw puts Lady Pirates in second seed
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
Seven weeks of basketball didn’t settle much in the Gorge League for the ladies, as Bickleton, TLG and Klickitat finish tied at 4-4 in league play. Sunnyside Christian finished a perfect 8-0 with a 63-37 win over TLG on Saturday, and Yakama Tribal remained winless with a loss to Bickleton 52-41.
District seeding was settled with an earlier number draw putting Bickleton second, TLG third and Klickitat fourth. The top two teams in District advance to State. Sunnyside Christian will have to earn their spot, but nobody has come close to upsetting the Knights in either girls or boys games.
Scoring pace might be the key to the outcome of the girls’ games. TLG has not fared well in high scoring games. Ball control and defense are keys to a TLG win.
Bickleton will look to create turnovers and keep the pace quick. Katelynn Clinton will score plenty of points, but the Pirates are at their best when others, like Star Kibby score in double figures.
Samantha Brewer is key for Klickitat, but she also needs good games from outside players to release defensive pressure.
The odd man out on the boys’ side of play is Bickleton, who played a good game against Yakama Tribal, but not enough to win the 58-51 battle. It was the boys’ last opportunity for a win this year, having lost to Klickitat in Bickleton on Friday, 53-27. Klickitat secured the fourth spot with the win. TLG finished second at 5-3 with Yakama Tribal third with a 4-4 record.
After Sunnyside Christian, the second slot at State is up for grabs. TLG and Yakama Tribal have the deepest bench. When TLG is on their game, they have the most size inside to go with a good outside game. The Eagles can also shoot from outside and have Gordon Gardipee to match-up with Jacob or Andy Wells inside.
Klickitat is the dark horse. They haven’t shown much of an outside shooting game, but their center, Caleb Keys is among the best in the league. Good defense could send the Vandals to State. |
