Pirates serve notice at Crusader Classic
Share
Tweet
-East Washingtonian photo
In the 182-lb division, Pirate Braedyn White had Greg Rainer of Chewelah pinned as the official's hand is raised to slap the mat. White was on the top of the division bracket, and 182-lb. teammate Curtis Winona was on the bottom–and they met in the championship match with White finishing first, Winona in second.
COLBERT–Pirate wrestling went away from the Crusader Classic here last Saturday with a pair of firsts, two seconds and a third, with the unusual occurrence of two teammates–Braedyn White and Curtis Winona–going head-to-head for the championship of the 182-lb division. The Pirate team finished fifth out of 13 teams competing in the tournament.
Coming up for Pirate wrestlers, Thursday, January 13, the second league meet has been moved from Ritzville to Liberty-Spangle, and starts at 5 p.m. Saturday the Pirates sail to Ritzville for the Bronco Invite.
Walker Flynn, in the 145-lb. division, and White, in the 182-lb. division, both prevailed over their opponents to win their divisions.
Lane Shawley, in the 132-lb. class, and Winona, who lost to his teammate and sparring partner White, in the 182-lb division, were awarded for their second-place finishes. Nick Hastings, in the 195-lb. class, won three of four matches for a third-place finish.
"We had four kids out of six in the finals today," said Head Coach Ben Slaybaugh. "There was some stiff competition and these guys showed up and took care of business."
"Curtis Winona and Braedyn White wrestled each other for the 182-pound championship with White coming out on top in a tough fight," Slaybaugh observed.
"Sophomore Walker Flynn had a great day, winning a close match in the finals with a late third-round pin," Slaybaugh said. "These guys are leaving it all on the mat every match and should be proud of their effort."
In the 182-lb. division, two Pirate wrestlers were spotted in different halves of the bracket and both won their matches, setting up a Pirate v. Pirate showdown. Curtis Winona was in the lower half and pinned Decon Medeiros of Kettle Falls, then prevailed by decision over Jayden Shull of East Valley. Braedyn White started with a bye in the top bracket, going against Greg Rainer of Chewelah in his first match of the day and pinning Rainer. That win put White in the championship match against teammate Winona, with White prevailing in a hard-fought match, but making a one-two finish for the Pirates.
In the 145-lb. classification, Walker Flynn pinned two and beat the other one to finish first. Ethan Bolt of Kettle Falls was pinned by Flynn, then David Colby of East Valley fell by decision, and finally pinning Michael Small in the championship match.
-East Washingtonian photo
Pirate wrestler Walker Flynn has Ethan Bolt of Kettle Falls close to a pin, and he eventually won the match. Flynn continued with a win-by-fall over David Colby of East Valley, then pinned Michael Small of Mary Walker for first place in the 145-lb. division.
The other second place was 132-lb. Pirate Lane Shawley fell to Nate Drake of Kettle Falls in the championship match. Shawley had advanced to the second round via the bye where he pinned Thayne Crossley of Mary Walker, sending him to the meeting with Drake.
Pomeroy's third-place finisher was Nick Hastings in the 195-lb. division. Hastings wrestled four matches, getting nicked into the consolation bracket in his second match. First he quickly put the hurt on Tyler Grant of East Valley. Then he ran into Tanner Goff of Colville, who pinned him before going on to win the weight division. Hastings defeated Derik Bowlby of Innovation and Jack Gallanger of Colville for the third-place medal.
Tyler Slaybaugh, 152-lb. Pirate wrestler, was pinned in the first match by Nathan Baldwin of Northwest Christian. Slaybaugh rallied with wins by pins over Christian Andrews of Innovation and Landon Eubank of Selkirk before losing by decision to Logan Zitek of East Valley.
