Wrestlers enjoy home mat time

The Broncos hosted their one and only home match of the season for wrestling on Thursday, Jan. 12, bringing together a host of different teams for a league match.

Making the trip to Ritzville were Tri-Cities Prep, Warden, White Swan, St. John-Endicott, Liberty, and Waitsburg-Prescott.

Keanu Niezwaag started the action for LRS at 138 pounds. He wrestled Hugo Barajas of White Swan and won convincingly by a score of 10-0. He then wrestled Cameron Fox of TCP and won by pin. His last match was with Emilio Pruneda of Warden. Niezwaag won his third match by pin.

Drew Wilke took the mat at 160 pounds. Wilke wrestled Micah Selk of SJE and won by pin. He then went against John Hylden of TCP losing by a score of 8-4.

Wilke finished the night when he wrestled Dalton LaRue of W/P and won by pin.

Ethan Melville also wrestled at 160 pounds. Melville went against Joe Portish of TCP and lost by a score of 8-5. He then wrestled Selk of St. John. Melville was behind 2-0 when he reversed Selk and pinned him.

Zeth Swanger wrestled at 195 pounds against Santos Gonzalez of Warden, losing by pin. He then went against Johnny Pruneda of Warden and was pinned.

“Zeth is becoming more aggressive every match and I am pleased with his progress,” said head coach Jason Hilzer.

Last up for the Broncos was Grayson Morris at 220 pounds. Morris wrestled Johnny Sales of Warden and won by pin. He then went against Xavier Vallalobes of White Swan, winning again by pin.

“Overall I was very pleased with our effort. There is still work to do as our district tournament is only two weeks away,” Hilzer said.

On Saturday, Jan. 7, the team traveled to Almira/Coulee-Hartline for a tournament.

Niezwaag wrestled this event at 145 pounds. His first match was with Trevor McCleary of ACH. Niezwaag won by pin. He then went against Gilbert Maycomber of Republic, who is a two-time state placer and state champion.

“This was a great match for Keanu, who ended up losing by a score of 11-10,” Hilzer said

Niezwaag then wrestled Lucas Rittle of Republic and won by pin. In a match for third and fourth place, he wrestled Marcos Fouseca of Okanogan, winning with a 10-6 decision.

Wilke and Melville were in the same bracket and ended up wrestling each other in the first round with Wilke winning.

Melville then wrestled Zach Hill of Wilbur-Creston/Keller.

“Ethan wrestled very well and won by a score of 6-4 to finish in second place,” Hilzer said.

Wilke wrestled Zach Hill of WCK and won by pin to finish in first place.

Swanger wrestled Jacob Klingensmith of Republic and lost 16-0. He also wrestled Jacob Vogal of ACH and lost by pin.

Morris wrestled Isaac Garcia of Ephrata and won by a score of 3-2. He then wrestled against Claudio Bastida of Ephrata and won by pin in the second period. He then wrestled Bryce Villalobes of Ephrata and won by pin to finish in first place.

On Thursday, Jan. 5, the Broncos traveled to Freeman for a mix and match tournament.

Kyle Ritz wrestled three times on the night. His first was with Preston Gibson of Freeman and Ritz lost by pin. He then wrestled Tyler Chenowith of St. Maries, Idaho, and lost.

He finished the outing wrestling Dylan Nickerson of Freeman, winning by a score of 7-4.

Niezwaag wrestled Ben Alford of Northwest Christian of Colbert and won by a score of 17-3. Niezwaag then went against Mikey Weiss of Selkirk and due to an injury, lost the match.

Wilke wrestled Austin Munson of Freeman and lost by pin. He then went against Wyatt Smith of Freeman and won by a score of 10-0. His last match was with Taylor Glidwell of Freeman. Wilke lost by a score of 13-8.

Melville also wrestled Smith and lost by score of 10-0. He then wrestled Kevin Geissler of Davenport and won by pin in the first period.

Swanger wrestled at 195 pounds and went against Kyle Fretch of NWC and lost by pin.

Morris wrestled a St. Maries opponent and won by pin. He then went against Teegan Glidewell of Freeman and lost by pin.

In his last match with a Davenport opponent, he lost a back and forth match 14-12.