Phelps, Regan qualify for state wrestling championships - Ryan moves on as alternate to Mat Classic XXX

Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Bronco wrestlers Aarron Phelps and Tristan Regan needed only one win at the Regional Tournament to secure their spots in their weight divisions at the Mat Classic XXX on Feb. 16-17.

Both Phelps and Regan earned those wins in the consolation semifinal bouts of their brackets, qualifying for the Mat Classic, and ultimately finishing fourth in their respective weight divisions.

This will be Phelps’ first opportunity to wrestle at the State Championships. Regan qualified as an alternate for the Mat Classic in 2017, but this will be his first opportunity to wrestle at the event.

Regan, competing at 113 pounds, wrestled Mary Walker’s Matthew Hess in the quarterfinals of his bracket. He managed to hold off Hess until he was pinned in the third period.

Regan rebounded from the loss in the consolation semifinals against Republic’s Damon Jager. He scored a quick takedown and secured the pin in 33 seconds.

An enthusiastic Regan was all smiles after the referee raised his hand and he embraced Jager.

“I’m so happy right now, I didn’t think I would get it,” Regan said.

Head Coach Jason Hilzer said he was glad Regan won his match to qualify for state and thought he wrestled well against Jager.

With his spot at state secured, Regan once again wrestled Hess, this time in the third-place match. The bout was tied 2-2 in the second period when Regan scored another takedown to take the lead. Hess managed to gain top position and secure the pin over Regan.

Phelps, competing at 220 pounds, received a bye into the semifinals where he wrestled Springdale’s Hunter Schurger and was pinned in the first period.

Like Regan, Phelps rebounded in the consolation semifinals, and took on Colfax’s Chayne Aeschlman. Phelps scored a takedown seconds into the match, then secured the pin in 49 seconds.

In the third-place match, Phelps wrestled Wilbur-Creston’s Cole Rosman. Phelps was leading 4-0 in the second period when Rosman gained top position and pinned him.

Phelps and Ryan are not the only two Bronco wrestlers traveling to Tacoma for the Mat Classic.

Jesse Ryan qualified as an alternate to the State Tournament after he took in fifth place in the 132-pound weight class.

In the quarterfinals, Ryan wrestled Mary Walker’s Randy Dixon, who Hilzer said was a three-time state qualifier. Dixon pinned Ryan in the first period of their match.

Ryan then wrestled Mary Walker’s Avery Matherly in the consolation quarterfinals. During the second period, Ryan scored a reversal and a near fall before Matherly scored on a reversal of his own to tie the match.

Ryan added two points with another reversal before pinning Matherly.

He advanced to the consolation semifinals where he wrestled Pomeroy’s Devon Noffsinger, who pinned him in the first period of their match.

In the fifth-place match, Ryan faced Republic’s Nolan Haddenham. Ryan controlled the entire match, scoring five points in both the first and second periods. He ended the match with 12 additional points to secure a 22-4 technical fall over Haddenham.

Hilzer said he was pleased with Ryan’s performance against Haddenham.

Sam Michels was the fourth LRS wrestler at Regionals and went 0-2 in the 126-pound weight class.

He wrestled Selkirk’s Ryan Issakides, who pinned him late in the first period of their match.

Michels was eliminated from the tournament after Liberty’s Josh Haas pinned him in the second period of their match.

Hilzer said Michels wrestled hard at the tournament, but he was matched against opponents who had more experience.

At the Mat Classic, Regan will wrestle his first match against Oroville’s Cody Field on Friday at 10:20 a.m. while Phelps will face Kalama’s Sutton Moon at 1:20 p.m. on the same day.

Hilzer said he and Assistant Coach Walter Crow will help prepare Phelps and Regan for the State Tournament by providing them with mat time and having them wrestle live matches in practice.