Broncos wrestlers earn mat time at Newport Invite, prep for Pomeroy

Five athletes from the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos wrestling team traveled to Newport to compete in the Newport Invite on Dec. 16.

While the Newport Invite is classified as a girls’ tournament, the event included time for boys to wrestle two exhibition matches against other athletes, which allowed them to accumulate additional time on the mat.

Hailey Roderick, who wrestled at 140 pounds, was the only Broncos’ wrestler officially competing in the Newport Tournament.

In her first match, Roderick wrestled an Othello athlete, who Head Coach Jason Hilzer said came into the tournament with more experience. The Othello wrestler took Roderick down and pinned her in the first period.

In the consolation round, Roderick wrestled an athlete from Newport. Hilzer said Roderick showed some improvement during the match as she scored a takedown on her opponent.

Roderick was ahead in points, 5-1, in the second period, but her feet were tangled and the Newport wrestler fell on top of her. Roderick was unable to escape from the bottom and she was pinned.

On the boys’ side, Doug Morris, who wrestled at 195 pounds, picked up a win in his second match against an opponent from Springdale. Head Coach Jason Hilzer said Morris scored a quick takedown on his opponent and pinned him in the first period.

Prior to his second match, Morris wrestled an athlete from Deer Park, who pinned him in the first round.

Tristan Regan, wrestling at 120 pounds, lost his first match to a West Valley wrestler. Hilzer said Regan wrestled a tough match, but the West Valley wrestler pinned him in the second round.

For his second match, Regan wrestled an opponent from Liberty. The Lancer wrestler threw Regan in a cradle and pinned him in the first period.

Hilzer said Regan, who started the season at 120 pounds, is looking to drop to the 113-pound weight class. This is not an easy process for Regan, who will have to continue wrestling 120-pound wrestlers until he can hit the scales at 113.

Samuel Michels, competing at 126 pounds, wrestled an athlete from Springdale and was pinned in the first period.

For his second match, Michels faced an athlete from Liberty and was pinned in the second period. Hilzer noted Michels showed some improvement during the second match. He added Michels, who is new to wrestling at the high school level, will improve as he earns more experience.

Andy Ortiz wrestled at 170 pounds and faced an athlete from Priest River. Hilzer said it was a close match between the two wrestlers until the third period when fatigue settled in on Ortiz and the Priest River wrestler pinned him.

Ortiz wrestled an athlete from Liberty in the second match. Hilzer said it was another contest was close for Ortiz, who managed to fight off his back during the match before he was pinned in the second period.

Hilzer said the goal of having the athletes competing in Newport was to have them gain some wrestling experience and to have couple of matches under their belts.

The Broncos will have four days off, then return to practice on Dec. 26. During the break, the team will work on fundamentals and wrestle more live matches.

Hilzer said the team will also watch film to learn some of the areas they need to focus on in order to prepare for the next tournament.

The Broncos will add one more athlete to their roster, Sean Murphy, who Hilzer said will compete at 126 or 132 pounds. Murphy transferred from Connell and has a few years of wrestling experience.

The Broncos return to competition when they travel to Pomeroy on Dec. 29.

The team will finish the 2017 portion of their schedule in the Banks Lake Brawl tournament in Coulee City on Dec. 30.