Wrestlers hit home mat tonight

LRS wrestlers will finally see their home mats and have the support of local fans tonight, Thursday, Jan. 10, when they host Almira-Coulee/Hartline, Tri-Cities Prep and the Warden junior varsity in the Gilson gymnasium at 6 p.m.

This season, the team has just two home matches. The first is this week and the second, senior night, follows on Thursday, Jan. 17, at 6 p.m. The Jan. 17 match is a league match and will be busy, with two mats going at the same time. Wrestlers from Almira-Coulee/Hartline, Tri-Cities Prep, Pomeroy, Waitsburg-Prescott and White Swan will visit.

Saturday the Broncos traveled to ACH for the Banks Lake Brawl. The team took only seven wrestlers due to injuries.

First up was Emmanuel Huitron at 132 pounds. Huitron wrestled tough, but lost his matches by pin.

Pedro Huitron wrestled at 135. He met Cruz Plasencia of Davenport and won by score of 7-4. He then wrestled Angel Comacho of Oroville, losing by pin. He went against Austin Eastbridge of Okanagan and lost by pin to finish in third place.

“It was good to finally get Pedro back on the mat after the holidays,” coach Jason Hilzer said.

Keanu Niezwaag, wrestling at 145, took on Luis Sauceda of Tri-Cities Prep and won by a score of 18-1.

The win put Niezwaag in the finals against Mason Mackey of Wahkiakum. This was his third time in a week facing Mackey. The first two were split between the wrestlers. This time Niezwaag took control and won by a score of 7-3 to finish in first place.

Up next, Andrew Witt checked in at 152 and went against Garrett Giuter of Pateros, losing by pin. He then went against Roman Angel of Pateros, with Witt winning by pin. This put him in a match against Brandon Burdick of Wahkiakum that he ended up losing by pin.

“I am pleased with how well Andrew picks things up in practice and I am excited to see him get better and better,” Hilzer said.

Next was Ethan Melville at 160. He wrestled RC Carstensen of ACH and lost by pin. He then went against Will Copeland of Wilbur/Creston-Keller and won with a pin. In his final match, he wrestled Ian Hunten of Davenport, losing by a score of 7-5.

Karl Hawks wrestled at 160 and went against Sam Guzman of Ephrata, losing by pin. He then met Luis Esamallia of Okanagan and was pinned.

The final Broncos wrestler was Matt Vercoe at 285. He wrestled Damon Dixon of WCK, losing by pin. He then went against Raul Pelayo of Ephrata and this was a back and forth match he eventually lost by pin.

Vercoe then wrestled Brandon Murray of Ephrata and dominated the match, winning by pin to finish in third place.

“I am very pleased with how hard these young men work in practice and it is starting to pay off with some wins,” Hilzer said.

On Friday, Dec. 28, the LRS team traveled to Pomeroy for a mix-n-match with White Swan, Waitsburg Prescott, Wahkiakum and Pomeroy. The Broncos took seven wrestlers.

Matthias Ferderer was first out at 106. He wrestled Issac Bobb of White Swan and this was a good match for him, despite losing, 20-7.

Next was Johnny Hernandez at 138. He wrestled Havin Heytvelt of Pomeroy. Heytvelt was 12-1 on the season so far. Hernandez stunned him and won by pin in the first period.

Niezwaag at 145, wrestled a two-time state participant, Mackey from Wahkiakum, with Niezwaag making a couple of mistakes and losing by a score of 7-2.

Hawks, at 160, then wrestled Junior Rameriz and lost by pin.

Cory Goble took the mat at 220 and wrestled Giovanni Rojas of WS and won by pin.

Layne Hawkes wrestled at 285 and went against Tristen Newman of WP, with Layne losing by pin.