Coach pleased with LRS wrestling's start to season

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague wrestling season is just two competitions old, but head coach Jason Hilzer is liking what he’s seen out of his team so far.

Not only was it the opening matches of the season for LRS, but it was also the first matches at the high school level for several of the wrestlers.

“I thought there were times we wrestled really tough,” said Hilzer. “I thought the newer kids wrestled as well as they could have.”

The season opened with the Ephrata JV Mix & Match on Dec. 10. Hilzer sent seven wrestlers to participate in the mix & match, going up against schools such as Eastmont (4A), Ephrata (2A), Othello (2A) and Warden (1A). Each wrestler participated in two matches, and the team combined to finish 11-3 on the day.

“Overall I was pleased with the way they wrestled [in Ephrata],” said Hilzer. “They were aggressive and I couldn’t have asked for anything more in that first time out.”

The team also participated in the Liberty Invitational in Spangle on Dec. 14

Wrestling at 113 pounds, freshman Brandon Davis was 2-0 in his matches in Ephrata. He pinned an Eastmont wrestler in the second period of his first match, and then pinned another Eastmont foe via pin in the first period of his second match.

In Spangle, Davis was pinned by a Kettle Falls wrestler in the first round of his bracket. He bounced back with a win against a wrestler from Wilbur-Creston in his second match via pin in the third period, and then lost to a Springdale wrestler via pin after holding a lead in the match to finish in fourth place in his bracket.

Hilzer said he was really pleased with the way Davis wrestled, and noted that the goal is still for him to be wrestling at 106 pounds by the end of the season.

Eighth grader Tyson Ramsay was one of several LRS grapplers to wrestle in his first matches at the high school level. Ramsay, competing at 126 pounds, went up against a more experienced Eastmont wrestler in Ephrata, but ended up coming away with the victory, 3-1, in what Hilzer said was a good match. In his second Ephrata match, Ramsay went up against another Eastmont wrestler, this time pinning his opponent after continuing to fight back in the match.

At the Liberty Invitational, Ramsay pinned his opponent from Tekoa-Rosalia in the first period in his opening match. He faced a Clarkston (2A) wrestler in the semifinal match and got pinned in the first period, and then got pinned again by a Liberty wrestler in his final match.

Sam Michels participated in the Liberty Invitational at 138 pounds, falling to a wrestler from Liberty by a score of 8-3. Michels bounced back in his next match, defeating his Almira-Coulee-Hartline foe via pin in the second period.

At 145 pounds, Angel Rodriguez competed at the high school level for the first time in Spangle. Due to the depth of his bracket, Rodriguez had to wrestle in a play-in match to get into the tournament. Rodriguez wrestled a kid from Clarkston, and held a 4-3 lead after two periods. With 20 seconds left in the final period and leading 5-3, Hilzer said he simply ran out of gas and got pinned.

“It’s a learning experience for him,” Hilzer said. “It’s good for him.”

Senior Spencer Olson, wrestling at 170 pounds, lost 4-0 to a wrestler from Othello in his first match in Ephrata, but bounced back in his second match to win via pin in the first period against an Ephrata wrestler.

Freshman Colby Tracy also wrestled in his first matches at the high school level in Ephrata. Competing at 182 pounds, he beat his Eastmont foe via pin in the second period in his first match, but got pinned by a wrestler from Othello in the first period in his second match of the day.

In Spangle, Tracy was pinned in the opening period of his first match, and then lost to a Clarkston wrestler via pin in his second match.

Junior Doug Morris, wrestling at 195 pounds, pinning his opponent from Warden in the opening period in his first match. Morris then pinned an Eastmont wrestler in the second period of his second match, after holding a 3-1 lead.

At the Liberty Invitational, Morris won his first match via pin in the third period against his Clarkston opponent and won his second match via pin in the first period against a wrestler from Medical Lake. Morris advanced to the championship match against a wrestler from Colfax, getting pinned in the second round to finish in second place.

Freshman Carson Shaver was one of the wrestlers to compete in his first high school matches, wrestling at 220 pounds. Shaver led 2-0 against his Eastmont foe after the first period, but got pinned in the second period. He bounced back in his second match, though, pinning his Warden opponent in the second period after leading 7-1.

In Spangle, Shaver was pinned in his first match against a Clarkston wrestler. He bounced back, pinning his Davenport opponent in the first period in his second match. He would get pinned by a different Davenport wrestler in his third match of the day.

Thomas Rosen wrestled at 285 pounds for LRS in Ephrata, pinning an Ephrata wrestler in his first match. Rosen followed that up by pinning his Eastmont opponent in 29 seconds in his second match.

Up next, the team travels to Oroville to participate in the North Okanogan Holiday Invitational on Dec. 21. Play is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.