Eight Broncos finish in top four at home tournament

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos wrestling team wasn't able to compete against the entire field that was expected at the team's home tournament over the weekend, but several LRS grapplers had high finishes at the Bronco Invitational on Jan. 11.

Sixteen teams were scheduled to participate in the tournament, but only nine could show up due to inclement weather throughout the region. Of the nine that were able to compete, LRS head coach Jason Hilzer estimated that the team would've finished in second place if team points were being officially tracked.

The Broncos had two wrestlers compete at 106 pounds, freshman Brandon Davis and eighth grader Wesley Tracy. The two ended up meeting in a consolation round match, with Davis coming out on top 16-0. Davis took home third place in his weight class after pinning his Republic opponent in the first period.

Eighth grader Tyson Ramsay was set to wrestle at 120 pounds, but he was the only wrestler in his class due to teams that weren't able to make the trip. Hilzer moved Ramsay up to 126 pounds to participate in a round robin against two other wrestlers, winning his first match via pin in the third period and his second match 5-2 to take first place among the three competitors.

Junior Sam Michels was pinned in the second period of his first match and the first period of his second round match at 138 pounds. At 170 pounds, Spencer Olson was pinned in the first period in his first match, pinned his opponent in the first period of his second match, and got pinned in the second period of his third match, taking fifth place.

At 182 pounds, freshman Colby Tracy had just three other wrestlers in his bracket, setting up a round robin format. He lost 10-4 in his first match, got pinned in the first period of his second match, and got pinned against a defending state champ in his third match. Wrestling at 195 pounds, freshman Carson Shaver won his first match via pin, got pinned in his second match, won his third match and got pinned in his final match. Both Tracy and Shaver finished in fourth place.

Junior Doug Morris won his first two matches via pin in the first period to advance to the finals. Morris was pinned in the finals, however, denying him a chance to take home gold in Gilson Gym in front of a home crowd.

At 220 pounds, junior Jay Harder won his first match via pin in the first round, a familiar result as of late for Harder. But it was Harder who got pinned in the first round in his second match. Hilzer said it was a fluke result for Harder and that he's confident his wrestler would come out on top if he faced the same opponent again. Hilzer pinned his next two opponents in the first round to finish in third place in his weight class.

The Broncos had two grapplers competing in the 285-pound bracket, Thomas Rosen and Jeffrey Staley. Rosen won his first match via pin, lost his second match by pin, and then won the third/fourth place match via pin in the second period. Staley pinned his first opponent in the opening period and in the finals lost to the same wrestler that Rosen lost to, via pin as well.

"Overall, I thought we wrestled well with the competition we had," said Hilzer.

This week is a busy one for the wrestling team, who competed in a South League match at Northwest Christian on Tuesday, travel to Burbank for a Mix & Match on Thursday, and return to Northwest Christian for the Crusader Classic on Saturday. The Crusader Classic is set to start at 9:30 a.m.