Two things hold true about the annual Best of the West wrestling tournament at Pasco High School.
First, it provides wrestlers a chance at a lot of matches over two days, with up to five team duals on the first day and an individual tournament the next.
Second, the team title almost always leaves the state.
For the 12th time in the tournament’s 13-year history, a team from outside Washington claimed the top honor at Best of the West.
Post Falls beat Lewiston 38-29 in an all-Idaho championship Friday night. Caldwell topped Deer Park 42-27 for third place as the potato state captured the top three spots.
Best of the West continues today with the individual tournament.
Deer Park (2010) is the only Washington school to claim the big prize. Hermiston has won five titles, a big reason why Oregon schools have nine West titles, including the first seven.
Southridge was the last local team standing in the championship bracket, losing 64-15 to Post Falls in the quarterfinals.
The Trojans went on to beat Deer Park 57-18 in the semifinals, while Lewiston beat Caldwell 39-33.
Southridge picked up three wins against Post Falls: pins by Kevin Del-Angel at 195 and Andrew Collins at 160 and a 4-1 win by Luke Davidson at 285.
Both Collins and Del-Angel won their first three matches with pins, Del-Angel on the mat for just 2 minutes, 41 seconds combined.
“We’re tough, and we don’t like to get pinned, I’ll tell you that,” said Collins, a senior who recently moved to Kennewick from Ohio. Southridge coach John Hogg was pleased with how his team wrestled all day, considering the Suns gave up a pair of forfeits but still beat Battle Ground (54-25) and Mountain View (55-20).
Hogg singled out Collins and Davidson, a sophomore 220-pounder wrestling up against the big guys.
“He’s a 217-pound sophomore, and he’s been battling,” Hogg said, noting that Davidson won his first three matches, including a pin.
The Suns capped their day with a 60-15 loss to Nampa, Idaho. That match was wrestled immediately after the Post Falls contest. Once again, Collins (1:37 pin), Del-Angel (:46 pin) and Davidson (5-1) posted the team’s only wins.
The only other local team to make it out of the first round was Kiona-Benton, which topped Heritage 35-31 before losing to Centralia 37-36.
Pasco lost to Mountain View 40-28, Walla Walla lost to Nampa 55-23, and the Chiawana JV lost to Caldwell 58-16.
Both Royal (45-30 over Lewis & Clark) and Connell (42-34 over Stayton) had to win pig-tail matches to start before losing to the eventual finalists in the first round. The Knights lost to Lewiston 69-9 and the Eagles to Post Falls 66-9.
Walla Walla went on to go 3-0 in the consolation rounds, while Royal was 2-0. Pasco and the Chiawana JV were 2-1, Ki-Be 0-2 and Connell 0-2.
Quarterfinal
Post Falls 64, Southridge 15
106—Alius Delarosa (PF) p. Manny Casillas 1:59. 113—Peter Berger (PF) win by forf. 120—Drake Foster (PF) p. Trenton Nett 5:22. 126—TJ Wolfe (PF) p. Eli Romero 5:24. 132—Tanner Riekenna (PF) p. Danny Navarro 2:50. 138—Tyler Mahal (PF) p. Lydon Reams 2:58. 145—Aaron Dyk (PF) win by forf. 152—Austin Brown (PF) win by forf. 160—Andrew Collins (S) p. Alex Stroh 2:59. *170—Seth McLeod (PF) p. Kyle Miller 1:02. 182—Cody Johnson (PF) m.d. Bryce Overholt 9-1. 195—Kevin Del-Angel (S) p. Jeremy Noordam 1:07. 220—Justin Farnsworth (PF) p. Marcus French 3:36. 285—Luke Davidson (S) d. Eli Bennett 4-1.
Second round
Centralia 37, Kiona-Benton 36
106—Jesus DelaCruz (KB) d. Isabella Sivla. 113—Bryce Bock (C) win by forf. 120—Seth Garcia (KB) d. Byron Cerrano. 126—David Graham (KB) p. Westley Hunter 3:48. 132—Campron Clary (KB) d. Paul Ward. 138—Wyatt Pannkuk (C) d. Tony Gonzalez. 145—Kale Setzer (KB) p. Joseph Finch 1:36. 152—Kellen Pelzel (C) p. Seth Matarazzo 1:48. 160—Cole Riccardo (C) p. Kris Young 2:26. 170—Joey Vandelaarscot (C) d. Dakota Vanhollenbeke. 182—Cruz Del Angel (KB) win by forf. 195—Kyzer Bailey (C) p. Todd Riley 4:52. 220—Tanner Cook (KB) win by forf. 285—Alex Daarus (C) p. Cody Zyph 2:56.
