Wrestlers Joe Adams and Carlos Norris Take 1st and 3rd at Pomeroy

WAITSBURG – Joe Adams (170) and Carlos Norris (113) both earned spots on the podium at the Pomeroy Christmas Invite on Tues., Dec. 20 with Adams placing first in his class and Norris placing third.

Only three Cardinal wrestlers were able to attend the meet that included teams from Pomeroy, Orofino, Joseph, Mabton, Potlatch, Pullman, Clarkston, Colfax/Gar-Pal, Lind/Ritzville, Clearwater Valley, Enterprise, Kittitas, Grangeville and Kettle Falls. David Just came close to placing as well, but lost in the final match for third/fourth place standing.

"We were short on wrestlers this tournament. Having wrestlers ineligible, overweight, ill, or not attending practices over the winter break really hurt us. We should have been higher in the placing, but with only three people wrestling, it's hard to compete against teams with full rosters," said Coach Lanny Adams.

Norris had a bye his first rounds, and lost by 10-1 decision against Cole Farwell (Enterprise) in his second round. He won round three in a 6-4 decision against Isaiah Acosta (Pullman) and beat Aurelio Morales (Orofino) by 7-4 decision in a bid for third/fourth place standing.

"This was a well-fought match. Carlos is really starting to fine-tune his moves. He is also stepping out of his comfort zone and trying new moves," Adams said.

Just also had a bye his first round. He won round two by fall in: 21 against C.J. Acord (Pullman) but fell to Gabe Jones (Pullman) in 2:54 in his third match. Just dropped Jonjairo Matias (Mabton) in 2:30 for a win, but gave up his bid for third place to Frankie Zumwalt (Grangeville) in a fall at 2:39.

"David has really improved this year. He is staying focused and wrestling aggressively. He is putting his opponents on the defense," Adams said.

Joe had byes his first tow rounds and dropped Merrick Hyde (Kittitas) by fall in 1:31 in round three. He took first place from Tristan Jammerman (Orofino) by fall in 1:19.

"Joe gave up about 14 inches in height to his opponent. He threw his opponent to the mat and maintained control Joe wrestled very aggressively and controlled this match from whistle to the slap of the mat," Coach Lanning said.

"The three wrestlers that did compete, wrestled some tough matches. Carlos and David both wrestled smart. Both were listening to the coaches an did what we asked them to do. There were teams from Washington, Idaho, and Oregon at the tournament – a lot of different wrestling styles and levels of competition. It was great exposure for the wrestlers to prepare them for post-season competition," Adams said.

Joseph Invitational

Six wrestlers traveled to Joseph, Ore. for the Jo-Hi Invite on Jan. 2 where Norris, the only eighth grade competitor, took second place in his class. Competing teams included: Joseph, Elgin, Enterprise, Culver, Ontario, Imbler, Union, Baker City, Crane, Irrigon, Heppner, McLaughlin, Pine Eagle, Wallowa, Adrian, Santiam Christian, and Echo.

Norris won his first two matches by pin - dropping Alan Chew (Ontario) in 2:42, and Trevor Chamberlin (Heppner) in 5, before taking Dawson Dollarhide (Baker in a 10-9 decision. He took second place standing from Lorenzo Vasquez (Culver) by fall in :47.

"Carlos was the only eighth grader to compete at this tournament. To make it into the medals round, especially the finals is quite an accomplishment. Carlos is the Waitsburg Cardinal Wrestler of the Week," Coach Adams said.

David Lewis (120), Devin Newman (138), and Dejay Lalka (138) all fell 0-2.

David Just (138) lost rounds one and three – against Moroni Jansen (Pine Eagle) and Jason Manzi (Santiam Christian) – by decisions but pinned Samuel Berry (Irrigon) by fall in round two.

"The 138 lb. weight classed filled the 16-man bracket. There were some tough wrestlers in this bracket. Even though our wrestlers were eliminated early on in the tournament, we still came away with some lessons learned," Coach Adams said.

Joe Adams went 2-2, pinning Brandon Roe (Pine Eagle) in 1:05 and Warren Johnson (Crane) in 2:06 in rounds one and three. He lost round 2 in a 20-8 decision against Elijah Epling (Crane) and lost round four in a 3:03 fall by Haden Kuta (Pine Eagle).

"Joe had some strong and talented wrestlers to compete against. He dropped 10 pounds in four days and was a little weak from that. He still wrestled hard despite lack of energy. Joe needs to decide whether he is going to stay at 160 or go up to 170," Coach Adams said.