Broncos mat squad prepares for second half of regular season

The Broncos only have three tournaments and one league match before the Regional Tournament takes place in Reardan.

Their second league match took place in Ritzville on Jan. 7. Wrestling in this match up were Tucker Guiles, Joe Benedict, Alex Whitman and Matthias Ferderer.

Guiles won his first match versus a Reardan High School wrestler. This wrestler was the same one he met in the previous league match in Colfax in which he lost.

His next opponent was from Liberty and he was unable to win this match.

During this last match Guiles pulled his groin muscle and was unable to participate in the tournament the following weekend.

Benedict lost both of his matches and wrestled the same two opponents Guiles wrestled.

Ferderer was up against the number one seed in his division from Colfax. He lost this match with a score of 3-0. He then wrestled an opponent from Reardan and lost by pin.

Whitman wrestled against a wrestler from Waitsburg High School who he was able to pin.

He then took on a Liberty wrestler and lost by pin.

The team traveled to Springdale for a tournament on Jan. 9. Head Coach Jason Hilzer only had two wrestlers compete, Benedict and Ferderer.

Benedict began the tournament wrestling an opponent from Newport High School and he pulled out a win. In his second match he faced an opponent from Liberty and lost. Benedict took third place in this tournament in the heavyweight division.

Ferderer won his first match against a wrestler from Republic High School by pin. He then faced the same number one seed from Colfax and lost with a 2-0 score.

During this last match he injured his shoulder and rather than risk a more serious injury, Hilzer pulled him from the remainder of the tournament.

The team will not be participating in the Royal Rumble hosted in Royal City and will instead take the extra week to recuperate and work on take downs.

Hilzer stated the team will travel to Almira Coulee Hartline High School for a practice with their wrestlers. This will provide the team with new opponents to practice against.

Their next tournament will take place on Saturday, Jan. 23, in Kittitas.

The Broncos host the Mix and Match tournament in Gilson Gym on Jan. 26.