Poe, Alvarez powers IHS to tourney win

Published 4:00 pm Monday, December 14, 2009

WARRENTON – Ilwaco won a seven-team Warrenton wrestling tournament Saturday by edging Neah-Kah-Nie 164 points to 151. Rudy Alvarez at 112 lbs. and Dyllan Poe at 145 lbs. won individual titles for the Fishermen mat men. Tanner Bonawitz (119 pounds), Taylor Odneal (160 pounds), and Joe Fjeldheim (171 pounds) all placed second in their weight classifications.

Coach Kevin McNulty said, “The back door points were critical in us winning the tournament. It was a team effort and nice to get five (Ilwaco wrestlers) in the finals. The key was for our wrestlers staying in the tournament and earning points through the consolations. That proved to be very important because Neah-Kah-Nie had four champions. Our kids continue to improve and we look forward to practice and our next competition Thursday at Ilwaco.”

Alvarez pinned his opponents and had a pin in the finals, beating Kyle Lucore (Astoria) in the finals in 3:30. Poe pinned Christian Panillio (Neah-Kah-Nie) in 1:08. Bonawitz lost in the finals to Dustyn Morrison (Astoria) by fall in 1:59 and Odneal lost a hard fought match to Austin Cherry (of Neah-Kah-Nie) 7-4 for his second place medal. Joe Fjeldheim lost by fall (2:37) to Paul Williams of Seaside.

Josh Berteaux (130 pounds) pinned Aaron Posey in :38 for his third place medal and Bobby Richards (189 pounds) won by fall (2:01) against Keifer Lucore (Astoria) to take third. Steve Furio (215 pounds) won by fall (1:49) against Arashi Pierre (Knappa) and Dylan Short (285 pounds) won by fall (:28) against Gustavo Massucato (Warrenton), as they both also earned third place finishes for the Fishermen.

Nick Cox (160 pounds) lost by fall (4:00) to Brian Johnston (Seaside) and finished the day 2-2 and Tyler Starks (171 pounds) lost by fall (2:28) to Cutter Pember (Knappa) and went 2-2 for the day. Taylor Zinn (152 pounds) lost to Kyle Berquist (Wahkiakum) in the match to go for third and fourth and ended the day with a 1-2 record.

Team standings:

Ilwaco 164

Neah-Kah-Nie 151

Astoria 115

Knappa 101

Seaside 99

Warrenton 89.5

Wahkiakum 78

Ilwaco wrestlers lasso Mules, lose to Lumberjacks ASTORIA – Ilwaco put the whammy on Wahkiakum 60-18 to win their first dual wrestling match of the season, but inexperience cost them a crack at the Lumberjacks of R.A. Long as the Fishermen won 20 and dropped 17 matches in Astoria Thursday. It was the second consecutive match in which Ilwaco had a winning record this season.

Josh Berteaux at 130 lbs. won two bouts and “had a much better night” according to coach Kevin McNulty and Joe Fjeldheim (171 pounds) and Dylan Short (215 pounds) both wrestled “very well” as they were also 2-0 on the evening.

Wrestlers for the Fishermen who won their only match of the evening were Steve Furio (215 pounds), Sergio Nunez (285 pounds), Corbin Sutherland (112 pounds), Nick Cox (160 pounds), Cody Wright (152 pounds), and Jesse Mortenson (171 pounds). McNulty said Kento Thompson also picked up a forfeit win against Wahkiakum and that Taylor Odneal (171 pounds) and Rudy Alvarez (112 pounds) both wrestled well, winning one match, but losing their first bouts of the year in another.

McNulty said, “Israel Bautista won his first varsity match against Wahkiakum.” He was 1-1 on the night, as was Tanner Bonawitz (119 pounds), Peter Keller (152 pounds), and veteran Bobby Richards (189 pounds). Gaining experience in two matches was Dyllan Poe and Taylor Zinn, while Ben Ahlin, Tyler Starks, Elliot Marcus and David Rodriguez each wrestled once.

For the Lady Fishermen Nakasha Custer was competitive against two boy grapplers at 125 pounds and Raven Rogers wrestled her first bout at 112 pounds.

McNulty related, “The match against R.A. Long was frustrating at times because four of our kids had Lumberjacks on their backs and looked like they were going to put them away. However, our inexperience showed as they came back and beat us in all four bouts, pinning us in three of them. That was a 45-point swing.” The Fishermen lost to 2A R.A. Long 54-16.

Custer, Nunez, Edwards undefeated at Franklin Pierce tourney TACOMA – Ilwaco’s Sergio Nunez, Ryan Edwards and Nakasha Custer were undefeated at a mammoth 500-wrestler tournament at Franklin Pierce High School Saturday for junior varsity and girl competitors. Nunez at 285 pounds was 2-0 and Edwards at that same weight was 3-0.

Custer pinned all three of her girl opponents in less than 40 seconds in each of the matches, after competing against boys thus far this season. “Two of her opponents were state-qualifiers last year,” Coach Kevin McNulty praised. “She will do very well this season.” Melanie Hughes had her first bout ever, “wrestling well against a tough opponent, but in a losing effort.” Peter Keller and Rico DeWolf at 171 lbs. were 2-1 in the tournament.

McNulty said, “Eighteen kids competed at the JV tourney that was made up of primarily 3A and 4A schools.” Other wrestlers include Raven Rogers, Corbin Sutherland, Sean Shelton, Ben Ahlin, Harley Weyl, Owen Sutherland, Marcos Merino, Cody Wright, Elliot Marcus, David Rodriguez and Elias Blume.

Ilwaco home wrestling set for Tuesday cancelledILWACO – The Fishermen home wrestling dual match with Seaside that was scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 15 was cancelled. Ilwaco will wrestle Saturday, Dec. 19 at Wahkiakum High School in the Down River Challenge tournament instead.