WF West's Zach Evans, bottom, is pressed into the mat during a wrestling match against Rochester's Riley Cohron, top, Saturday morning at the NW Sports Hub in Centralia.
WF West's Chase Conaway attempts to take down Aberdeen's Enrique Ontiveros during a wrestling match Saturday morning at the NW Sports Hub in Centralia.
Rochester's Hayden Dahl, right, attempts to bridge during a wrestling match against WF West's William Taylor, left, Saturday morning at the NW Sports Hub in Centralia.
Centralia's Jacob Kunkle, bottom, is held against the mat during a wrestling match with Aberdeen's Tanner Fleury, top, Saturday morning at the NW Sports Hub in Centralia.
Centralia's Jacob Reyna, bottom, struggles to get out of a hold during a wrestling match against WF West's Roehre Cunningham, top, Saturday morning at the NW Sports Hub in Centralia.
WF West's Carver Brennan, top, holds onto Centralia's Jesse Weeks, bottom, during a wrestling match Saturday morning at the NW Sports Hub in Centralia.
The Evergreen 2A Conference sub-regional wrestling tournament was held in the Hub City and had a distinctly Twin Cities feel on Saturday.
Nine of the 14 weight classes had a finalist from either W.F. West or Centralia, with the Bearcats and Tigers accounting for seven bracket champions and a total of 12 finalists.
W.F. West took the team title with 396.5 points, and Centralia was third with 275.5 points.
“It’s just nice to get another league title,” Bearcat coach Jamie Rakevich said. “I thought our kids wrestled really well to go ahead and win that tournament.”
W.F. West’s Roehre Cunningham, Mason Marones and Carver Brennan and Centralia’s Izz Almontes, Aaron Adamo, Tristan Dickey and Eddie Matias all won league championships.
The two finalists in each weight bracket automatically qualified for the Region 1 Tournament next weekend in Tumwater, while the third- and fourth-place finishers in each bracket will wrestle pigtail matches against the third- and fourth-placers from the Greater St. Helens 2A League with the winners entering regionals.
Cunningham defeated Centralia’s Juan Gaspar with a 16-0 technical fall in the 106 finals, while Marones edged Centralia’s Mykka McAllister, 4-2, in the 132 finals.
“Mason beating McAllister was huge, considering McAllister’s so tough,” Rakevich said. “He wrestled a really good match.”
Brennan won at 152, beating Tumwater’s Kane Palmer, 9-4, in the finals for the Bearcats’ third win.
W.F. West’s Levi Walters lost to Aberdeen’s Edgar Salazar, 4-3, in the 120 finals, and Ka’imi Henry lost 12-10 to Black Hills’ Julian Kennedy in the 160 finals.
“Overall, our kids wrestled really well,” Rakevich said. “It was a pretty good day overall. I was proud of how the kids competed. I thought we went out and fought pretty hard.”
Matias won at 113 for the Tigers, topping W.F. West’s Caleb Walters, 11-7, in the finals. Dickey was a winner at 170, pinning Black Hills’ Patrick Alvarado in the first round.
Adamo won the 195 bracket, beating Tumwater’s Trace Spath 10-4 in the championship match, and Almontes won at 220, beating Tumwater’s Caden Hicks in sudden victory overtime.
“Our wrestlers competed very well. We had a couple solid practices and seem to have gotten back on track,” Centralia coach Scott Phillips said. “We won several matches that we had got beat in earlier in the season.”
Rochester’s Riley Cohron lost, 5-3, to Aberdeen’s Tyler Souphommanichanh in the 126 finals, while Jayden Lancaster finished second at 145 for the Warriors, falling to Tumwater’s Austin St. Louis in a third-round pin in the finals.
Rochester’s Dailin Schlecht (fourth, 120) and Jakxen Wherry (fourth, 160) also advanced.
“Riley wrestled outstanding,” Rochester coach Jason Dick said. “He made the finals against a very good kid, and ended up wrestling him to a 5-3 match, so he’s peaking at the right time.”
Centralia’s Jacob Reyna (third, 106), Porter Harris (fourth, 113), Dayvi Gaspar (third, 120), Austin Lake (third, 145) and Caleb Hylton (third, 170) all advanced to the regionals.
W.F. West’s Darren Gray (fourth, 106), Zac Evans (third, 126), Aaron Zylstra (fourth, 132), Kyle Gray (fourth, 138), Bryce Laufenberg (fourth, 145), Austin Pierson (fourth, 152), Jack Mallonee (third, 182), Isaac Reavis (third, 195), Chris Powe (fourth, 195) and Chase Conway (285, fourth) all survived to wrestle pigtail matches in Tumwater.
