Broncos mat squad advances to Regionals

Four athletes from the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos wrestling team earned spots at the 1B/2B Region 3 Tournament on Feb. 10 in Reardan. Two additional athletes will serve as alternates.

At the Sub-Regional Tournament on Feb. 3, Tristan Regan earned his second trip to the Regional Tournament after finishing second place in the 113-pound bracket. Regan had a bye to the finals where he faced Colfax’s Nolan Burrill, who he had wrestled during the regular season.

Regan wrestled a close match against Burrill, who ended up winning the bout, 6-0.

Head Coach Jason Hilzer said Regan will not have many wrestlers in his bracket.

If Regan wins his first match of the day, he will qualify for his weight division at the Mat Classic XXX, which is Feb. 16-17 at the Tacoma Dome.

Aarron Phelps also qualified for the Regional Tournament after he took second place in the 220 pound weight division.

After a first-round bye, Phelps faced Colfax’s Chayne Aeschlman, who he pinned in the first period.

In the championship round, he lost to Colfax’s Augie Allenbach, via pin in the first period.

Hilzer said Phelps will have a bye in the first round of his bracket at the Regional Tournament, then go on to face the No. 1 seed.

The third wrestler to qualify for Regionals was Samuel Michels, who finished in fourth place at 126 pounds.

Michels received a bye to the semifinals and wrestled Liberty’s Josh Haas, who pinned him in the first period of their match.

In the third-place match, Michels wrestled Davenport’s Mikhail Agney, who pinned him in the second period.

Hilzer said Michels is improving every week in practice, which will help him when he competes in the Regional Tournament.

Jesse Ryan also earned his first trip to the Regional Tournament after he finished fourth place at 132 pounds.

Ryan received a bye into the semifinals where he wrestled Pomeroy’s Lane Lagergren, who pinned him in the third period of their match.

In the third-place match, Ryan lost to Pomeroy’s Devin Noffsinger, who won 11-7.

Hilzer said Ryan will need to focus as he prepares for his weight division at Regionals. He added Ryan will likely face an athlete who is three-time state finalist in the first round.

Hilzer expects Ryan to qualify for the Mat Classic if he can wrestle through the consolation rounds.

Doug Morris was one of two LRS wrestlers to qualify as an alternate for the Regional Tournament after finishing fifth at 182 pounds.

Morris pinned Colfax’s Mason Miller in the first period of their match. Hilzer said he was happy with Morris’ performance because Miller had defeated the Bronco wrestler earlier in the season.

In the semifinals, Morris faced Reardan’s Ethan Landt, who pinned him in the first period. He then lost to Colfax’s Leonard Huels, 8-4, in the consolation semifinals.

Morris rebounded from the loss to once again defeat Miller in the fifth-place match, 5-3.

Thomas Rosen was the other Bronco wrestler to qualify as an alternate at Regionals after his fifth-place finish at 285 pounds.

In his first match, Rosen lost to Davenport’s Trevor Morris, who pinned him in the first period. In the consolation bracket, he lost to Reardan’s Dylan Szolga via pin in the first period.

Rosen came back from the losses to pin Pomeroy’s Edmundo Meza in the second period of the fifth-place match.

Hilzer said it was good for both freshmen athletes like Morris and Rosen to compete in a high stakes environment for the first time in their high school wrestling careers.

The top four wrestlers in each bracket at the Regional Tournament will advance to the Mat Classic. Hilzer said all of the athletes will continue to work hard and refine their skills leading up to Regionals.