ILWACO – On Senior Night, wrestlers Matt Bonney and Isaac Mendez were honored before their final chance to compete in front of the home crowd. There was not much else to celebrate Tuesday as Ridgefield proved to be the strongest dual meet team the Fishermen have faced this season.

The Spudders mashed Ilwaco 46-5, with only Bonney scoring points, as Ridgefield won six of the seven bouts that were contested and accepted five other forfeits. Bonney won a technical fall by out-pointing Robert Ford 17-2 in the 189 bracket. Bonney, who is seeded number one in the Trico-League Sub-Regional competition, upped his season record to a brilliant 19-3.

In the closest bout of the evening, Jake Pederson lost 7-10 to Matt Miles at 275. Pederson trailed 10-5 after Miles piled up a flurry points at the end of two periods, but came back to within three points when the buzzer went off. The match cost Pederson the third seed in Sub-Regionals, however he will go in as number four with a record of 17-6 on the year.

Having earned a second seed in the Trico, Derek Duffy wrestled Octavio Mendoza and was defeated 1-17 at 130, dropping Duffy’s overall mark to 17-8 this season. The other Ilwaco wrestler seeded to Sub-Regionals, Jerry Matzen, was beaten 4-15. Matzen’s record in the 119 pound class is 13-6 and he also will be a fourth seed.

Mendez was pinned in 1:03 in the 152 pound class by Jordan VanWyhe, dropping his record to 5-12. David Alvarez wrestled a junior varsity bout at 152 and was also pinned in 2:53.

Sean Brady lost by fall to Colin Boyle at 160 in 1:06 and he enters post-season wrestling with a 2-18 mark. Ray Coulston was pinned in 1:02 by Kyle Simmons to run his record to 5-18 in the 215 weight classification.

Coach Tom Hornbuckle explained, “Each of our wrestlers has an opportunity to advance from Sub-Regionals to Regionals and on to the State Mat Classic, however the higher the seeding, the easier it will be to win at Regionals.”

He went on to say that the top four wrestlers from the Trico League will battle the top four in inverse order of finish from the Evergreen Conference Saturday, Feb. 15 in Elma for the right to advance to wrestle at the State level.