Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Smith takes second after injury default
Malachi Jaynes Turner of Lind-Ritzville tries to take down Tyson Kane of Mary Walker in the opening round of the Gorilla Invitational.
Octavio Paredes Martinez of Lind-Ritzville/Sprague tries to break down Kittitas wrestler Alex Mazon in the 113-pound championship.
DAVENPORT – Bronco wrestler Octavio Paredes Martinez brought home a gold medal Saturday from the Gorilla Invitational.
Wrestling at 113 pounds, he was the only individual champion for the Broncos, which finished third as a team.
Northwest Christian (Colbert) won the team award with 137 points, followed by Kittitas with 127 and Lind-Ritzville/Sprague with 110.
Rounding out the Top five were Davenport with 97 points and Selkirk with 94.
In individual results, Martinez opened the tournament by pinning Landyn Murphy of Davenport in 1:54.
In the semifinals, he won by technical fall, 17-2 in 5:31, over Micah Rocha of Northwest Christian.
That win put him in the finals, where he pinned Alex Mazon of Kittitas in 4:31 for first place.
Bronco Gabe Smith, wrestling at 215, also reached the finals.
He opened with a bye then won a 16-9 decision over Preston Stingley of Kittitas to advance to the championship.
In the finals, he lost by injury default to Carson Durbin of Reardan to finish second.
Two other Broncos found themselves with bronze finishes.
Turner Slack, wrestling at 144, opened with a bye, then lost by fall in 43 seconds to Nik Bakhtin of Northwest Christian.
The loss put him in the consolation bracket, where he would win out to medal. Slack pinned Paxton Gaines of Selkirk in 49 seconds and then won a sudden overtime victory, 13-11, over teammate Wyatt Rosman of Lind-Ritzville for third.
At 150, Pete Spain pinned Noah Saltz of Asotin in 4:52 to open the tournament. He then lost by fall to Aiden Indahl of Northwest Christian in 45 seconds.
In the consolation bracket, Spain then pinned H.K. Bird of Reardan in 1:23 and then Gabriel Cary of Davenport in 2:17 to win bronze.
In other Lind-Ritzville results:
120 pounds – Wyatt Gibler was pinned in 41 seconds by Wayland Holmber of Davenport, then won by technical fall (15-0 in 3:37) over Noah Everett of Davenport. Gibler was then pinned by Nakoa Rocha of Northwest Christian in 2:34 and closed the tournament with a technical fall victory (16-1 in 3:15) over Titan Jennings of Mary Walker.
120 pounds – Cooper Rushing was pinned by Nakoa Rocha of Northwest Christian in 2:45 and then titan Jennings of Mary Walker in 4:45.
132 pounds – Alexander Bonner was pinned by Sam Drake of Kettle Falls in 1:52 and then by Noah Stegman of Northwest Christian in 2:24.
144 pounds – Wyatt Rosman pinned Paxton Gaines of Selkirk in 54 seconds, then was pinned by Hudson Somes of Northwest Christian in 59 seconds. Rosman received a bye in the third round of the tournament, before losing in overtime, 13-11, to teammate Turner Slack of Lind-Ritzville.
190 pounds – John Branham opened with a loss to Dylan Valadez of Mary Walker, a pin in 3:35. In the consolation round, he then pinned Ethan Reid of Northwest Christian in 1:22, before being pinned by Sterling McLaughlin of Reardan in 26 seconds. Branham pinned Carl Medhaug of Davneport in 48 seconds in his final match.
Heavyweight (285 pounds) – Malachi Jaynes Turner was pinned in 35 seconds by Tyson Kane of Mary Walker to open the tournament. He then received a bye before being pinned by Hunter Walker of Kittitas in 2:34. Jaynes Turner
Roger Harnack is owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. An award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher who grew up in Eastern Washington, he's one of only two Washington state journalists ever to receive the international Golden Quill for editorial/commentary writing. Roger is committed to preserving local media, and along with it, a local voice for Eastern Washington.
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