Aldrich tops 160 entry; Nichols places third

Justin Aldrich of LaCrosse, who collided with Pomeroy teammate Troy Knebel last week for the 160 title in the wrestling sub-regional at Ritzville, battled through all rounds of the regional at Kittitas Saturday. Aldrich and SJE senior Jesse Nichols, third-pace finisher in the 152 bracket, will advance to the state Mat Classic in Tacoma Friday and Saturday.

Thomas Newton will attend state wrestling in Tacoma as an alternate, he placed 6th at 103 wt. Thomas is shown here wrestling Taylor Woodruff from Liberty Bell.

Five top qualifiers out of the Kittitas Regional earned slots for the state 1B/2B championship which begins with eight wrestlers in each weight class.

Aldrich decisioned Liberty Bell’s Chuck Myers 10-5 to take the 160 title. Both Aldrich and Knebel advanced to the semi-final round, but Myers stopped Knebel with a pin in the last six seconds of the match.

Aldrich won his semi-round with a 10-6 decision over Kelan Sax of Selkirk.

Knebel pinned Sax for the third-place ticket to state.

Aldrich was one of three title winners for the Pirates who qualified 10 wrestlers for the state trip.

Nichols booked a first-round pin of Mike Lynch of Orville to qualify in third place for the state meet. He booked the win after running into Pomeroy’s Scott Wolf, the eventual champ, in the semi round. Wolf pinned Nichols in the third round of the battle.

Lynch bowed to Nate Poulsen on Kittitas in the other semi, and Poulsen was stopped by Wolf on a 1-0 decision in the 152 title match.

Nichols, who won his first state medal as a freshman with Colfax in the A division, will aim at winning his third state medal at Tacoma.

He will face Stephen Talen of Tacoma Baptist in the first state round.

Aldrich, as a top seed, will face Troy Stackhouse of Davenport, number five qualifier from Kittitas, in the first state round. Knebel will face Kolton Palmer of Darrington.

SJE freshman Thomas Newton finished in sixth place for an alternate slot after being pinned by Charles LaPlante of Wilbur-Creston in the last qualification round.

Host Kittitas booked another team win in the regional with 247 points. Reardan finished a close second with 240.5, and Pomeroy placed third with 224.5. St. John/Endicott finished with 24 points.

SJE RESULTS

103-Thomas Newton pinned by Gilbert Maycumber-Rep, 3:08; over Woodruff-LBell, 7-0; pinned by Rodrigo Alvarado-WS, 4:50: pinned by Charles LaPlante-WCK, 2:57 for sixth place, alternate to state.

152-Jesse Nichols pinned Haskin-Selkirck, 1:27; pinned by Scott Wolf-Pom, 4:29; over Sundance Reeves-Dav, 12-0; pinned Mike Lynch-Oro, 2:29 for third place.

285: -Bo Niehenke pinned by Filer-Selk, :09; pinned by Hunter Acuff-Rdn; 1:29.