Tigers See Payoffs

WALLA WALLA -- The recent downshift in weight classes for the four WP wrestlers saw an immediate payoff during the Tigers' meet last week at Walla Walla High School.

Meeting opponents from Wa Hi, Mac Hi and Pomeroy, the boys brought back three wins. Dalton Larue won two of those, including one pin.

" It's starting to come along," head coach Lanny Adams said in between his students' matches. "They're getting exposure to some bigger schools with more competition for them."

Larue, who switched to the 160-pound category from the 170 pounds, pressed Mac Hi's Cody Martin to the vinyl 41 seconds into the first round. Later in the evening, he beat Nigel Lugo convincingly, 9-1.

"Dalton wrestled a good hard match," Adams said about the Tiger's victory over Lugo.

Trenton Kitselman, who now wrestls in the 132-pound class, won his first match of the evening against Luis Helicopter from Mac Hi, 10-1.

"I just stayed low and rode him out," Kitselman said. "I held his ankle with my legs and worked on different moves with my arms so I wouldn't be called for stalling."

Kitselman said he now feels more evenly matched being in the 132-pound class.

Adams agreed.

"He is where he should be," Adams said. "He dominated the match. He wrestled smart. He stayed square and kept his body tight, staying on the balls of his feet. He never stopped moving. He outwrestled that kid."

Although fellow wrestlers Gabe Escalante (down to 113 pounds) and Kavin Kuykendall (132-pound class) did better in some respects, they both lost their matches.

Kuykendall was pinned in 41 seconds in the first round by Mac Hi's Cody Harman. The first-year wrestler held out much longer against Martin Barrera, who wasn't able to level his back to the mat until 1 minute, 52 seconds into the second round.

Kuykendall, who hasn't participated in any organized sports before, is nonetheless "sticking with it and keeps going," Adams said with admiration and optimism in the young wrestler's prospects.

Kuykendall, who came out with all the right intensity in the second match, got close to beating Barrera early when the Tiger got his opponent's head and arm. The move could have led to a pin, but Kuykendall couldn't hang on.

Gabe Escalante was pinned by Tanner Horse of Mac Hi 14 seconds into the second round.

"Gabe kept dropping his hip," Adams said, pointing out that this made him vulnerable to being turned over on the mat. But the length of the match is an indication Escalante is starting to "get it."

The Tigers' next meet is in Ritzville on Thursday.