Wrestling roundup: Hermiston makes best of situation, wins team title

Bad weather may have kept the Hermiston wrestling team from making its annual trip to Coeur d'Alene for the Tri-State Tournament.

But nothing, not even the absence of their two-time state champion, could keep the Bulldogs from dominating at the TRAC Arena on Saturday.

The two-time defending Oregon 5A state champions stuck wrestlers in nine of the finals and won eight titles to run away with the team championship at the revamped Best of the West tournament.

Hermiston scored 249.5 points in Saturday's portion of the tournament, wrestled like an individual invite rather than the team-tourney format traditional to the event.

Clarkston, a 2A team, finished second, more than 50 points back. Pasco and Rich-land placed third and fourth.

Hermiston won titles with Joey Delgado at 112 pounds, CJ Dircksen at 119, Brandon Adolf at 135, Bryce McMahon at 152 and Cody Britt at 160. That without two-time state champ Ben Jorgensen, who wrestled Friday but sat out Saturday with an illness.

Britt, who won a close 4-3 decision over River View's Chris Strawn, said he was glad to have a chance to be on the mats this weekend after the trip to Idaho was waylaid by bad driving conditions in Spokane.

"We didn't have the competitive level of Tri-State," he said, "but at least we had something."

Britt's brother, Jaylee Britt, lost 8-6 in overtime to Rich-land's Dustin Utecht for the 125 title.

Utecht said he figured it would be a close rematch after his 9-6 win in Friday's pool rounds.

"I was expecting him to be going hard and all out," Utecht said after winning his first high school title. "Revenge is a lot better (motivation) than winning twice."

The Bombers' other two finalists finished second: Kyler Mars lost 18-11 to Grandview's Santos Guillen at 103, and Jacob Bieber lost 3-1 to Dircksen at 119.

Cameron Schlotman claimed the only title for the host team. The Pasco senior topped Hermiston's Dylan Olsen 2-1 at 140. Michael Elizondo at 135 and Damian Adams at 285 lost their title matches on first-period pins. For Adams, the eight matches in two days were his first of the season, with the seven before the final all ending in first-period pins.

For a big guy, he showed remarkable comfort working down low on his opponents and not just wait for a throw.

"I get forced down there," the senior said of working out with his coaches in the wrestling room.

Hanford's Mike Ruane saw his run of pins come to an end in the 145 final, a 4-3 loss to Clarkston's Matt Powell, a two-time state placer.

Burbank's Trevor Morrison won the 130 title 7-5 over River View's Chance Watt. Connell's Nato Orozco was the other 1A wrestler to claim a title, topping Clarkston's Nick King for the 215 crown.

Team scores--Hermiston 2491⁄2, Clarkston 196, Pasco 1541⁄2, Richland 1281⁄2, Connell 991⁄2, Hanford 971⁄2, Colville 941⁄2, Southridge 881⁄2, Grandview 87, Moses Lake JV 85, River View 70, Columbia (Burbank) 47, Kiona-Benton 44.

Championship and third-place matches
103--Santos Guillen (Gvw) d. Kyler Mars (Rich) 18-11; Hernan Serra (Con) d. Sid Britt (Her) 4-2. 112--Joey Delgado (Her) p. Robert Leyva (ML JV) 4:58; Isaac Delgado (Her JV) m.d. Jonathan Chandler (ML JV) 11-1. 119--CJ Dircksen (Her) d. Jacob Bieber (Rich) 3-1; Blaze Larson (SR) d. Matt McCallum (KB) 6-1. 125--Dustin Utecht (Rich) d. Jaylee Britt (Her) 8-6; Kaleb Rikstad (Clrk) d. Andy Campbell (KB) 5-2.
130--Trevor Morrison (Burb) d. Chance Watt (RV) 7-5; Brad Thomas (Her) m.d. Spencer Blanshan (Gvw) 11-0. 135--Brandon Adolf (Her) p. Michael Elizondo (Pas) 1:48; Scott Sullivan (R) d. Brock Beeler (Clrk) 8-2. 140--Cameron Schlotman (Pas) d. Dylan Olsen (Her) 2-1; Caleb Gifford (Han) d. Gerardo Avitia (Con) 10-4. 145--Matt Powell (Clrk) d. Mike Ruane (Han) 4-3; Efren Ramos (Gvw) d. Will McNamara (SR) 10-3.
152--Bryce McMahon (Her) d. Gavin LejaMeyer (Clrk) 11-5; Paul Swanson (Colv) d. Luciano Hernandez (ML JV) 8-7. 160--Cody Britt (Her) d. Chris Strawn (RV) 4-3; Zane Earl (Clrk) p. Israel Armenta (SR JV) :56. 171--DJ Darnell (Clrk) d. Ben Millard (Her) 2-1; Dustin Divis (Colv) d. Aaron Fenton (Han) 4-3.
189--Gabe Hocum (Clrk) d. Curtis Berger (Her) 5-2; Nicholas Lee (Rich) p. Garrett Whitney (Con) 5:10. 215--Nato Orozco (Con) d. Nick King (Clrk) 6-4; DJ Hall (Colv) p. Brady Simpson (Rich) :43. 285--Devon Norland (Clrk) p. Damian Adams (Pas) 1:52; Mike Flores (SR) p. Mitchell Atwell (Rich) :45.

SunDome Mat Classic
Yakima
Team scores -- Chelan 151.5, Ellensburg 147, Davis 134, Wenatchee 132.5, Toppenish 132, Sunnyside 126, Othello 125, Selah 122.5, Kennewick 111, Ephrata 89, Prosser 57, East Valley 54.5, West Valley 52, Eisenhower 42.5, Wapato 33.
Championship matches
103 -- Christian Reyes (Su) m.d. Armondo Hernandez (T), 9-1. 112 -- Steven Romero (Su) d. Cortney Nalley (Dav), 6-0. 119 -- Julian Romero (T) d. Osmar Jaimez (P), 8-6. 125 -- Zach Nalley (Dav) d. Kenny Sanders (Ell), 7-6.
130 -- Robert Espinoza (Se) d. Krayson Gates (Wen), 12-6. 135 -- Shawn Olivarez (Su) d. Reece Hunter (WV), 7-5. 140 -- Reuben Lopez (O) d. Gage Schmidt (Che), 7-5. 145 -- Quinton Hendrickson (Eph) d. Jose Garcia (Che), 7-2.
152 -- Amando Deleon (O) md. Tyler Allen (Che), 12-2. 160 -- Saul Soto (Kenn) p. Tyler Nobel (Se), 4:41. 171 -- Jack Loomis (Kenn) p. David Huizar (Su), 3:30. 189 -- Davey Anderson (Che) d. Devin McCrary (Ell), 6-0. 215 -- Josh Cole (Ell) p. Sean Gervais (Che), 4:45. 285 -- Blake Nichols (Ell) p. Luis Rodriguez (T), :19.