WP Wrestlers at Pomeroy

POMEROY - WP wres­tlers made a good showing at the December 28 Pome­roy Invite with three wres­tlers placing in the top five. Tristan Newman took 2nd place, TJ Morrison took 4th and David Just took 5th.

David Just (126) took his first match in a 16-2 decision against R. Magruder (Kitti­tas). "Magruder was smaller and more compact than what David was used to wrestling and I think he surprised David that he was short and fast," said Coach Lanny Ad­ams. "David calmed down, wrestled smart and domi­nated the entire 6 minutes." Just was pinned by Ramo Rudolph (TCP) in 1:58 in his second match. Adams said that Just made a mistake that Rudolph capitalized on, in what was an "aggressive and fast-moving match." An­other couple of mistakes cost Just his third match in which he was pinned by Killgore (Pomeroy) in 2:25. Just faced Magruder again in his final match, pinning him in a quick 25 seconds. "He came into that with his head back in the game and established control of the match from the beginning," said Adams.

Kavin Kuykendall (145) was pinned by Thorpe (Pomeroy) in 3:50 in his first match and by Jones (Colfax) in 1:50 in his second. "Kavin had some tough competition and made some mistakes he normally doesn't make. He tried a couple of new moves that didn't pan out. I think once he gets those mastered, you will see a different out­come," said Adams.

T.J. Morrison (152) was pinned by Wilkins (C/V) in 3:15 in his first match, won his second match, pinning Lea (Kitittas) in 3:58, and fell to Heyvelt (Pomeroy) in 1:57 in his third match. "TJ had a tough tournament. He's in a tough weight class, but has made a big improve­ment from where he was at a couple of weeks ago. His first opponent was a very technical wrestler. I don't think TJ has ever wrestled anyone with that type of experience or ability before. TJ put up a good fight and made it further than I had anticipated," said Adams.

Tyler Brooks (160) was pinned by two-time Oregon state champion Wilcox (Jo­seph) in 3:31 in his first match and by Angel (Pate­ros) in 3:05 in his second. "Tyler wrestled hard, but was not able to complete a move due to Wilcox counter­ing every attempt. I feel that Tyler could have wrestled stronger that what he did in his second match," said Adams.

DJ Lalka ( 185) Was pinned by Wilcox of C/V in :09 in his first match and by Schuh of Pomeroy in 3:00 in his second. "DJ has made a huge improvement," said Adams. "He is working hard on keeping his balance by constantly moving and is be­ing more aggressive."

Tyler Hoffman (220) lost his first match to Lord (Col­fax) in :36 and his second to Vercoe (LRS) in 1:07. He won his third match against Dietrich (Clarkston), pin­ning him in 5:33 in what Ad­ams said was probably one of the most and exciting and loud matches so far this year. "He controlled that match, but kept missing the half nelson," said Adams. "There were a couple of times that I think the entire gym, exclud­ing the opponent's team, was yelling 'Half Nelson !' I asked him after the match if heard the crowd yelling, and he said no. He was that focused on the match. "

Tristan Newman (285) Won his first match against McAdams (Colfax), pinning him in 1:50. He lost his sec­ond match against Kohlepp (Joseph) at 3:41. Adams said Newman wrestled well and used the tournament to try new moves. "He is trying to get more shots in to get a takedown. You don't see very many heavyweights shooting for a takedown," said Adams. "One of the difficulties with the 285 lb. class is that there aren't that many. There were five in this tournament. When the brackets are set in an eight man bracket, most get a bye in the first round. Tristan's win against McAdams from Colfax secured him a spot in the finals."

WP wrestlers will travel to Lind/Ritzville Thursday, January 9th. Wrestling begins at 6 p.m.