Wrestlers prep for Districts at Warden

The Broncos wrestling program has spent the entire season preparing individual wrestlers for what comes next: the District Tournament. This year, the action plays out at Warden High School on Saturday, Feb. 4, beginning at 10 a.m.

For the Broncos, the final three outings of the regular season have been tune ups for the tournament run, which culminates with the state wrestling tournament in Tacoma.

On Saturday Jan. 28, the Broncos traveled to Reardan for a league match with teams from Liberty, Almira-Coulee/Hartline, Wilbur-Creston/Keller, Davenport and Reardan.

First up for the Broncos was Kyle Ritz at 106 pounds, and he faced Joe Peterson of WCK and ended up losing by a score of 17-2.

Keanu Niezwaag checked in at 138 and he faced his nemesis, Daniel Stauffer of Davenport. Stauffer placed fourth at state last year.

Niezwaag was down but battled back and with two seconds left, tied the score at 9-9. They then went into overtime where Niezwaag tried a throw and slipped to lose by a score of 11-9.

Niezwaag then wrestled Kyle Kopp of Reardan and won by a pin in the second period.

Drew Wilke wrestled at 160 against Cody Payne of ACH and lost by pin. His next match was with Zach Hill of WCK. Wilke was winning the match by a score of 7-0 when he got out of position and pinned.

Ethan Melville, 160, wrestled Hill and lost by score of 13-4. He then went against Nick Anderson of WCK and lost by pin.

Zeth Swanger, 195, went against Jacob Vogel of ACH and lost by pin. He then wrestled Ike Martinez of Reardan and lost by pin. His final match against Phil Simms of Reardan, he lost by pin.

Grayson Morris wrestled Jace Malek of Reardan in a back and forth match, with Morris eventually losing by pin.

The Broncos traveled to Pomeroy on Jan. 17, for a mix-n-match with Tri-Cities Prep, Walla Walla, and Pomeroy.

Ritz wrestled Claytin King of Pomeroy and lost by a score of 15-0.

Niezwaag wrestled Luis Nicacio of TCP and won by a pin.

Wilke wrestled Ryan Smith of Pomeroy and lost by pin in the third period. He then went against Josh Freer of Walla Walla and won by pin in the first period.

Next out was Melville, who went against Pepe Moreno of TCP and this was a back and forth match with Melville winning by a score of 14-10.

Morris wrestled Mike Wymore of Pomeroy and lost by a score of 8-2. He then wrestled Austin Reisdorph of Pomeroy and pinned in the first period.