WP Wrestlers Making Improvements

POMEROY - The Tigers' wrestling performance at the team's second meet in Pomeroy in as many weeks Tuesday was an athletic déjà vu.

Dalton Larue pinned one of his opponents in the second round of his first match, then was pinned by his next opponent - none other than state champion Tory Knebel, whom Larue held off well into the second round of that match.

The other Tiger team members were again defeated fairly quickly, but head coach Lanny Adams was encouraged by the team's improvement over last week and predicted the continued exposure of the newer wrestlers to more seasoned opponents is the best they can ask for right now.

"They're seeing different styles of wrestling," he said. "They will last longer in these matches as the season wears on."

Tuesday's meet included wrestlers from White Swan, Pateros and host Pomeroy.

Larue, who pinned Gabe Davis of Gar Pal last week, was the only Tiger scheduled for two matches.

Recovered from last week's neck injury, he came out energetically against the much-taller Tyler King in the first match and kept trying different moves on the Pomeroy wrestler.

"I kept looking for the right move," Larue said, explaining that his recovery allowed him to go for a double-leg take down.

In almost constant motion, Larue kept after King until the buzzer ended the first period. The pattern continued in the second period until Larue looked at the 11 seconds remaining on the clock.

"I thought 'I've got to pin him,'" the Tiger said. Larue first tried a three-quarter Nelson, but King escaped from the move, so "I went to a crossbow cradle and got him on that with three seconds left."

Larue's tireless search for angles and moves on King impressed Adams.

"He fought the kid's natural leverage by staying close to him," the coach said. "He just tried move after move."

Though not victorious against the weight class state title holder, Larue nonetheless held off Knevel until there were just 25 seconds left in the second round. The match was the meet's next-to-last. Tigers Gabe Escalante, Kavin Kuykendall and Trenton Kitselman were all pinned in their first round against Rodrigo Alvarado from White Swan, Kyle Hyer from Pomeroy and Hugo Barajas from White Swan, respectively.

" Gabe wrestled a hard match," Adams said. "He made fewer of the same mistakes he did last time against an opponent who had about six inches on him."

Kuykendall came out with intensity against Hyer, Adams said. "He tore after him from the beginning." Kitselman was pinned by Barajas in 34 seconds, Adams said Tuesday "wasn't his day."

The Tigers' next meet is scheduled for 7 p.m, Wednesday, Dec. 28, in Pullman.