Hanford brings home 5 medals from Kelso tourney

Five of Hanford’s six wrestlers placed Saturday at the Kelso Girls Tournament, with Grace Nelson leading the charge with a second-place finish at 190 pounds.

On her way to the finals, Nelson pinned Nancy Mendoza of Granger (28 seconds), Tatum Heikkila of Aberdeen (3:24), Ashley Kile of Yelm (2:58), and Estephania Vargas of Othello in 30 seconds in the semifinals. Vargas ended up fourth in the day.

Nelson met her match in the title bout as Tise Hunkin of Spanaway Lake earned the gold medal with a first-round pin.

Taylor Wilson finished third at 100 pounds for the Falcons, pinning Faith Cardenas of Aberdeen in 4:19.

Michaela Kane overcame a second-round loss to place seventh at 170. After her loss, she won four consolation matches to stay alive.

Taylor Robbins was eighth at 125 for Hanford, getting pinned in the second round by Hailey Henry of Olympia in her final match.

Hailey Say also was eighth, getting pinned in 1:41 by Paige Dasher of Decatur in their placing match.

Kennewick’s Jazmine Mercado took home a bronze medal at 120, earning a 3-1 decision over Ashlyn Morrison of Olympic.

Maria Reyes of Grandview placed second at 105, getting pinned by Peyton Prussin of Las Vegas in 3:30 in the championship match.

Jasel Perez picked up a third place for the Greyhounds at 130, winning her final match 2-0 over Makenna Speed of Kalama.

River View’s Dempsi Talkington placed second at 135, getting pinned by Allison Blaine of Hudsons Bay in 3:19 in the championship match.

Kayse Magana placed eighth at 140 for the Panthers.

Kiona-Benton had wrestling rookie Maloree Calzadillas place fourth at 155, getting pinned by Lourdes Torres of Sunnyside in 1:56.

For Columbia-Burbank, Savannah Towle placed fourth, getting pinned by Tanya Simora of Puyallup in 40 seconds in their placing match.

For Othello, which finished sixth in the team standings with 122 points, Emily Mendez was fifth at 105, and Elizabeth Giles was sixth at 140.

Yelm won the team title for the 84-team tournament with 188 points. Teams came from as far away as Las Vegas and Homer, Alaska.

Hanford was 13th (87 points), followed by Grandview (20th), River View (34th), Columbia-Burbank (37th), Kennewick (45th), Kiona-Benton (48th), Kamiakin (59th), Chiawana (62nd) and Royal (73rd).

This story was originally published January 6, 2018 at 10:55 PM with the headline "Hanford brings home 5 medals from Kelso tourney."