By PAUL MATLI
The Astorian
This week was one of travel for our wrestlers.
After all the local schools participated in last weekend’s Warrenton Invitational, the teams were spread out across two different states. Warrenton made the trip to Molalla for the Molalla Mayhem, while Astoria and Seaside traveled to both Clatskanie and Longview, Washington for meets. The Fishermen had a split team this weekend, as some participated in the Robert Morris Invitational that was held in Longview and others took part in the Phil White Winter Classic in Clatskanie.
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Warrenton boys put up decent showing
The 215 pound battle between Warrior teammates continued once more at Molalla. After Devon Sturgell and Sean Irwin split the first two meetings they matched up again on Saturday.
Sturgell was the victor in this one as he got revenge on his teammate from last week. After Irwin took the Warrenton Invitational by a score of 7-2, Sturgell responded with a 5-2 victory. This will be a year-long battle and so far the score stands at two victories for Sturgell and one for Irwin. The first place for Sturgell was the only one for the Warriors on Saturday.
The boys finished fifth with a score of 66.5. This was behind winner Estacada, who finished with 127 points, two points ahead of host Molalla. Scio came home third with 83.5 points and St. Helens clocked 78.5 points.
Other top finishers for the Warriors were Asher Wiley (285), Diego Canchola (285), Chance Huntley (157), Finley Marshall (138), Javen Zepeda (132), Kyle Bond (120) and Wyatt Huntley (106).
In the other heavyweight class, Canchola and Wiley finished third and fourth, respectively. Huntley finished fifth at 106 pounds, Bond was second at 120, Zepeda was third at 132 and Marshall was second at 138. The middle weight saw Chance Huntley finish fourth at 157 pounds.
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Astoria boys see victories
Jaron Mincey and Adrian Balli nabbed wins for the Fishermen boys at the Three Rivers Classic in Longview, Washington.
Mincey went a perfect 4-0 to win the 144-pound weight class. His victory in the finals came against Seaside wrestler Kyle Weichal by a score of 9-4. Balli took care of the heavyweight division with a first place at 285 pounds. After receiving a bye in the Championship Round, Balli went on to win his next three matches en route to the top finishing spot.
The other two Fishermen who placed were Beau Smith and Paul Hellberg.Â
Smith finished third at 150 pounds and Hellberg placed fourth at 175 pounds.
In total, the Fishermen finished ninth with a total of 87.5 points and rival Seaside finished fourth on the day with 110.5 points.
The other part of Astoria’s team went to the Phil White Classic in Clatskanie. This was a combination of boys and girls for Astoria. Only one boy scored in the places, while a number of Lady Fishermen clocked good finishes.
Malachi Armstrong placed third for the Fishermen in the boys 190/215 division.
On the girls side, Harley Dornin won the girls 110/115 pound weight class. She was joined by Kiera Champagne (105), Emma Thygesen, Alayla Bartlett and Yeleni Gres (120 pounds) and Lynzee Boardman (170/190)
Thygesen, Bartlett and Gress finished right in a row: Gress finished second, Bartlett was third and Thygesen brought home a fourth place. Boardman finished second to Marah Collin of Clatskanie in the girls 170/190 pounds.
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Seaside boys state qualifiers stand out
Saturday was a good meet for Seaside boys wrestling.
The Seagulls also took part in the Three Rivers Classic and had a standout performance from their state qualifiers.
Henry Rollins (120), Kyle Weical (144), Brayden Cooley (157) and Carlos Silva-Villa (215) all had a good meet. Three out of the four took first place and Weichal finished second in his weight division.
In total, the Seagulls finished fourth in the high-level meet.
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Knappa boys see four in the places
Knappa boys wrestling saw three wrestlers place at the Phil White Winter Classic.
Logan Wells (132 pounds), Sitka Myers (175 pounds) and Ale Rivera (190/215) all finished in the top four on Saturday for the Loggers.
Wells was third at 132 pounds, Myers was fourth at 175 and Rivera was second at 190/215. In total the Loggers accumulated 41.5 points to finish fifth out of the six teams.
On the girls side, Knappa had Evelyn Wilson finish first and two other girls joined her in the points.
Wilson took the win over Abbygayle Morgan of Vernonia in the 135/145 pound weight class. Izabella Geier rebounded from an opening round loss to get second place. Geier lost to Clatskanie wrestler Elizabeth Rojas-Bautista in the first round, but defeated Astoria wrestler Kiera Champagne to take second. Finally, freshmen wrestler Kameryan Robitailly placed fourth in the girls 170/190 division after a loss to Vernonia wrestler Carolyn Glenn in the third round.
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