LaRue Pins In Pomeroy

POMEROY - Dalton LaRue pinned for the second time this season, beating Gabe Davis of Gar Pal in the second round of his first match at the WP wrestling team's first big meet in Pomeroy on Tuesday.

"Davis had the length," head wrestling coach Lanny Adams said about the Gar Pal wrestler's fourinch height advantage over LaRue. "But Dalton outmatched him based on his knowledge of the moves."

LaRue was the first and only WP athlete to pin during an informal unscheduled meet in which the Tigers participated at Tri Cities Prep last Tuesday.

Four WP Tigers competed at Pomeroy. Joining LaRue were Gabe Escalante, Kavin Kuykendahl and Trent Kitselman.

Though none of the other three won their matches, they impressed their coach, who said they all showed the kind of tenacity that will allow them to go far in high school wrestling.

The Pomeroy meet was the first official meet for the WP team in its inaugural season as a WP sports program.

Adams said neither Escalante nor Kuykendahl have ever participated in competitive high school wrestling, but are catching on quickly.

"Gabe won the first match in WP wrestling history," Adams said about Escalante's early victory at the TCP meet last week. "Gabe's light switch went on. He's working the moves and understanding them."

Though somewhat intimidated in his first match at Pomeroy, Kuykendahl hung tough during his second wrestling encounter.

"He got pinned in the second round, but he did not stop moving at all," said Adams, who measures his wrestlers' success in part by how long they can last against more experienced opponents. "Kavin's fire got lit and the fan is blowing that flame."

In his first encounter, Kitselman didn't get pinned until well into round 2. Adams said the former Matbird could have won it.

"Trent got caught in a mistake, but one mistake is the difference between the arm going up or not," the coach said.

After defeating Davis in his first match, LaRue went on to face Justin King from Ritzville, who gave the WP wrestler a run for his money.

LaRue himself said a neck injury in the first match against Davis limited his choice of moves. He was unable to execute a doubleleg take down, which he described as one of his stronger moves. He could still try for head and arm take downs but those work best against opponents of the same height and King was several inches taller. King pinned him in the third round.

LaRue suffered the same fate against Logan Zunker from Reardan. Both wrestlers went for the overhook/ underhook but Zunker prevailed and pinned LaRue in the second round, the use of his arms and knees causing La Rue considerable pain.

Overall, Adams said he was pleased with the results, considering his team is relatively young and his program brand new.