COLBERT–Pomeroy wrestlers competed well here January 14, two of them, Nick Hastings and Curtis Winona, finishing second in their weight classes.

Up next for Pirate wrestlers was a girls-only match at Mead on Jan. 17, with the third League Match at Ritzville tonight at 5 p.m. and the Bronco Invitational at Ritzville on Saturday, Jan. 21.

"It's exciting to see the guys improving with each outing as we get closer to post season," commented Head Coach Mat Slaybaugh on the team's showing at the Crusader Classic. "The guys all wrestled very well today."

Nick Hastings, wrestling in the 195-lb. division, earned his second medal of the year, finishing in second place. Hastings pinned Christophe Parks of Rogers at 1:46 to advance, then won by fall at 1:54 over Seth Cummings of Mt. Spokane. In the championship bout, Brock Martin of Riverside pinned him with 44 seconds on the clock.

Curtis Winona, at 182 lbs., lost a very close championship match for Pomeroy's other second-place finish. Winona had a bye in the first round, meeting Arian Renshaw of Rogers, whom he pinned at :54. In the championship bout, John Pierce of Almira-Coulee-Hartline won by fall at 5:40.

"Freshman Peyton Cannon showed real grit and determination after he lost his first match," Slaybaugh said. "He battled back and won four in a row to finish fifth in his 16-man bracket." Cannon lost by fall at 2:40 in the first bout then defeated Mason Dell of Riverside by pinning him at :30. Jackson Frickle of Mt. Spokane was Cannon's next opponent and he won by fall at 2:51, the victory pitting Cannon against Richard Hood of Kettle Falls in the consolation bracket bout for fifth place, Cannon winning by fall at 2:36.

-Photo courtesy of Roger Harnack

Pirate Wrestler Peyton Cannon dropped his first match then fought his way through the consolation bracket for fifth place in the Crusader Classic last Saturday in Colbert.

The second league meet of the year at Davenport on Jan. 12 showed Pirate wrestlers continuing to "wrestle tough," Slaybaugh said, but the meet didn't go well for Pomeroy.

"The guys continue to wrestle tough," Slaybaugh said. "They are doing a lot of good things and were really close several times on moves but unfortunately tonight, things didn't go like we wanted."

Winona counted the only win for the team, pinning R. Cash of Davenport in his second bout, after losing to J. Qwik of Liberty, in the 182-lb. division.

Nick Hastings, in the 195-lb. class, lost by fall to S. Schneider and J. Qwik of Liberty.

Cannon was pinned by S. Strobel of Liberty and Z. Hoff of Davenport.