Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
ADVANCING TO STATE. These three LRS Broncos have earned a trip to the WIAA Mat Classic at the Tacoma Dome this Friday and Saturday. Keanu Niezwaag (above) will wrestle at 145 pounds. He finished second overall at the regional tournament last weekend. This is his fourth straight trip to the state tournament. Cory Goble (top right) will wrestle at 220 pounds after earning a third place finish at the regional tournament. Layne Hawks (at right) finished sixth at regionals and will travel as an alternate in the 285-pound weight class. -Journal photo by Stephen McFadden
When the Mat Classic opens in Tacoma on Friday, three LRS Broncos will be there. Two of them, Keanu Niezwaag and Cory Coble, have earned the right to compete in the state wrestling tournament in their respective weight classes. Layne Hawks just missed that opportunity, but has qualified as an alternate and will wrestle if another competitor fails to make weight or withdraws due to injury prior to the start of the tournament.
The trio turned in strong efforts last Friday and Saturday at Reardan High School during the regional tournament. They were joined there by several LRS wrestlers.
Matthias Ferderer, 106 pounds, wrestled Jacob Smith of Lake Roosevelt and lost by pin. He then wrestled Austin Stauffer of Davenport and lost by pin, to be knocked out of his bracket.
Kyle Ritz, also wrestling at 106, met Zach Erickson of Lake Roosevelt and Ritz won 15-11. He then wrestled Jose Paco Marin of Kittitas and lost by pin. Ritz finished his tournament outing by wrestling Austin Stauffer of Davenport and losing by pin.
Alexis Guizar, 220, wrestled Jacob Klingensmith of Republic and lost by pin. He then wrestled Giovanni Rojas of White Swan and lost by pin.
Matt Vercoe at 285 pounds, wrestled Mark Ditori of Springdale and lost by pin. Vercoe then defeated Tristan Goss of Lake Roosevelt by pin. In his third and final match, Vercoe wrestled Dreyton Accord of Liberty and lost by pin.
Hawks, 285, went against Octavio Alejandre of Lake Roosevelt and lost by pin. He then wrestled Jose Suarez of White Swan and won by pin. Next he went up against Tristan Newman of Waitsburg-Prescott and lost by pin. He finished up against Accord of Liberty Bell and lost, 10-6, to finish in sixth place as an alternate to state.
Goble, 220, wrestled Jacob Klingensmith of Republic and won by a score of 18-3. He then wrestled Emmitt Barkalu of Springdale and lost by pin. Goble then went against Reed Morgan of Kittitas and won by pin.
The win put Goble in a match for third and fourth place against Klingensmith and Goble won by pin to finish in third place.
Goble will meet Steven Broom of Adna in the first round of the state tournament.
Niezwaag, 145, wrestled Mickey Weiss of Selkirk and won by a score of 8-6. He then went against Walter Harris of Northwest Christian and won by pin.
This put Niezwaag into the finals against the defending state champion Orrin Gross of Lake Roosevelt and this was a 7-7 match in the third period with 10 seconds remaining when Niezwaag got put in a bad situation and pinned. He finished in second place to qualify for his fourth consecutive trip to the state wrestling tournament.
Niezwaag will meet Shilo Borden of Raymond in the first round on Friday in the Tacoma Dome.
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