Broncos mat squad preps to host league tournament on Thursday

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos wrestling squad faced multiple opponents in two tournaments to finish off the 2015 year.

The first tournament held in Coulee City took place on Dec. 23. Four Broncos took to the mat in the Banks Lake Brawl; Matthias Ferderer, Alex Whitman, Joe Benedict and Tucker Guiles.

Karl Hawks attended but was unable to wrestle due to an illness.

Whitman wrestled three separate competitors. In the first match of the day he fell to his opponent but in the second match he was able to pull out a win.

The last match of the day was unfortunately also a loss for Whitman and he did not place at the tournament in the 145-weight class.

Guiles was able to wrestle in two matches in Coulee City in the heavyweight division. Both of these competitors proved too experienced and he was unable to take down either of them.

Benedict was also able to wrestle three times in the course of the day. The first match he was unsuccessful but came back in the second match to win. The third match was also a loss for Benedict who wrestled in the 285-weight division.

Ferderer wrestled against two competitors from Newport High School in the 132-weight class. He was able to win both of his matches and placed first in the tournament for his division.

After this match Head Coach Jason Hilzer had the wrestlers focus on their foot work. They also worked on their takedowns to try and improve the amount of time they are on their feet during a match.

One of Hilzer’s wrestlers from previous years worked with Ferderer over the winter break to help him have a chance to work with a lighter wrestler.

The team then faced numerous opponents in the Pomeroy Tournament on Dec. 29. Wrestling in this tournament were Whitman, Hawks and Ferderer.

Whitman was in a large bracket comprised of 16 wrestlers. He was only able to wrestle twice and lost both of these matches.

Ferderer began his day wrestling an opponent from Clearwater High School in Idaho. He was able to pin this opponent and move onto the next round.

In this round a Kittitas High School wrestler was Ferderer’s opponent, and he was also able to pin this wrestler and move onto the finals.

In the finals Ferderer wrestled a student from Pullman High School and lost 12-1. Hawks was able to wrestle in the tournament in the 285-weight division. He made it to the semifinals and was winning 7-0 when Hilzer had to remove him from the match due to a broken hand.

Hawks underwent surgery for his hand and will be unable to wrestle for an unknown number of matches. Fortunately, he has already competed in enough matches to qualify for post-season competition.

Hawks is currently the number one seed in his division.

The squad is now gearing up for their next league match to be held Thursday, Jan. 7, in Gilson Gymnasium.

Hilzer is having them work on taking it off the bottom so as to stay on their feet more in each match. This will help them to earn more points in the competition.

Hilzer expects Ferderer, Whitman, Guiles and Benedict to wrestle on Thursday.

In the last league match Ferderer did not compete so Hilzer looks forward to seeing where he matches up against the league competitors he will meet in Districts.

For the heavyweight wrestlers they have a smaller number of competitors in their division, Colfax High School, Reardan High School, Lind-Ritzville High School and Waitsburg High School are the only schools in the league to have wrestlers in this division.

Maisa Ferderer has yet to wrestle in her first match but Hilzer still hopes to have her in a match prior to the end of the season. Matt Vercoe is recovering from a previous knee injury and has been unable to wrestle in recent matches.