Morris, Niezwaag grab fourth at state

Unlike team sports, wrestling is a one-on-one battle that proves to be just as much about mental toughness as it does physical strength.

For the LRS Broncos, two proved capable of competing among the ranks of the state’s elite wrestlers. Both advanced last weekend to the B Washington Mat Classic XXIV in Tacoma. They returned home with medals for fourth place overall finishes in their individual weight classes.

Keanu Niezwaag captured fourth place at 138 pounds. Grayson Morris won fourth place at 220 pounds.

Niezwaag opened the tournament with an upset victory over a number one seeded wrestler, Jimmy Garcia from LaConner. Niezwaag controlled the match and tallied a 7-1 decision for the win.

The opening round win set up a semi-final match between Niezwaag and his Davenport nemesis, Daniel Stauffer. Stauffer would prevail with a 6-1 decision. The loss sent Niezwaag to the consolation bracket where he would need a win to remain in the hunt for a top finish.

He got a sudden death overtime victory over Oscar Roa of Brewster with a final score of 12-8. The win set up a battle for third and fourth place between Niezwaag and Jon Walling of Kittitas. In a very tight match, Walling narrowly won the outing 2-1.

Morris suffered a tough opening round loss when he was pinned by William Helman of Ocosta at 3:15 into the match.

Morris would rebound quickly, gaining a pin over Steven Broom of Adna at 4:09 in the match.

In his next pairing, Morris took on Mike Wymore of Pomeroy. This was a close battle that Morris eventually won with a 3-2 decision.

With two consecutive victories, Morris found himself in the medal round wrestling for third and fourth place against Helman, the wrestler who defeated him at the start of the state tournament. Helman would prove to be a handful and he successfully pinned Morris at 2:56. As a result, Morris earned fourth.