Broncos wrestling team competes in first league match

Four Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos hit the mat for their first League Match of the year on Wednesday, Dec. 16, in Colfax.

This match was comprised of the same wrestlers the team will meet in the District Tournament at the end of the season.

Head Coach Jason Hilzer stated, “There were only a few teams there and there weren’t many heavyweights for our guys to wrestle against. We have a good shot at getting everyone through to the Regional Tournament.”

He went on to state the only bracket he sees getting larger is the 145-pound division, “A lot will change before the season ends and in this weight division a lot drop to the 140-pound group.”

Alex Whitman was able to wrestle three times in the 145-pound division. He unfortunately lost all three of these matches.

“Two of the wrestlers he faced are going to place top four in the State Tournament,” Hilzer said.

He went on to say he has seen improvement from Whitman and he sees him getting better already.

Karl Hawks was only able to wrestle once. He faced an opponent from Reardan High School and was able to pin him in the first round.

Joe Benedict and Tucker Guiles wrestled the same opponent. Both of the Broncos wrestlers lost and Hilzer states this is due to the opponent having more experience than they do.

Benedict went on to wrestle a wrestler from Colfax High School. He was able to pin this opponent in the second round of the match.

“It was goo to see Joe wrestle and have a little bit of success on the mat,” Hilzer stated.

Guiles wrestled twice more on Wednesday, both against wrestlers from Colfax High School.

The first was versus the same wrestler Benedict matched up against. Guiles was also able to pin this opponent.

The second Colfax wrestler was a lighter weight and had been to the State Tournament in the past. Hilzer said, “Tucker wrestled really well but lost in the second or third period.”

Guiles is still working on dropping to the 220-pound division.

For their next tournament Hilzer has the team working on staying behind the wrestler. Benedict, Guiles and Whitman are trying to get as much time on the mat as possible.

“The more time on the mat they get the better off they’ll be at matches later on,” Hilzer explained.

He is also trying to ensure that his wrestlers can recognize when they get themselves into a dangerous position.

He stated that Matthias Ferderer and Hawks need to work on improving their takedowns as well and he plans on working on this with them in the coming weeks.

Hilzer said he has seen a huge improvement in his team since the first tournament. For the next tournament, which takes place on Wednesday, Dec. 23 at Coulee City he sees Benedict, Whitman, Hawks, Guiles and Matthias wrestling.

He would like to see Matt Vercoe wrestle but he is still recovering from a concussion and Hilzer does not want him to push it.

He also hopes to see Maisa Ferderer and Alexis Guizar have thier first chance on the mat after the start of the new semester.