Regional rounds at Reardan end mat season for local trio

Colfax senior Kevin Nellis works for escape against Brewster's Manny Rubio in the first round of the regionals Friday at Reardan

Three local contenders for the state mat classic waged some battles Friday in the first rounds of the regional tournament at Reardan, but they fell short of qualifying for the state mat classic this weekend at the Tacoma Dome.

Kevin Nellis of Colfax, Kevin Knauff of Garfield/Palouse, both at 152, and Thomas Newton of St. John/Endicott, 119, all qualified for the regional out of the sub-regional a week earlier at Coulee City.

The giant Reardan show was billed as the east side state regional with five slots open for each weight class for the Tacoma final.

Kevin Knauff of Garfield/Palouse goes over the top of Jess Nolan of Mary Walker for a win in his opening bout.

Warden, a power team for years in the A division, was bumped down to the Bs this year and dominated the team scoring with 255.5 points, .62 points ahead of number-two Kittitas. Reardan topped the Bi-County entrants with a third-place finish on 128 points, and Pomeroy topped the SE at sixth with 90 points.

Garfield/Palouse freshman Kevin Knauff advanced to the second day of action at the regional before he bowed out of the 152-pound class.

SJE sophomore Thomas Newton goes up against Davis Castillo of Oroville in the second consolation round in the 119-pound class at Reardan.

Knauff was pinned by Justin Wynhoff at 2:14 Saturday in the 152 class. Wynhoff went on to qualify for the number-four state ticket after losing to Tanner Wallace of Kittitas in the consolation final.

Knauff advanced to the Saturday finals with a 2-0 win over Colfax senior Kevin Nellis. Knauff scored two points on a takedown in the first round, and the two battled through the next two rounds without a score.

“It was a real battle,” Cliff Knauff, coach and dad of Kevin Knauff commented.

Knauff started the regional campaign with a 7-5 win over Jess Nolan of Mary Walker. He then ran into Wallace in the second round and was pinned at 4:25.

That led to the 2-0 battle with Nellis and the Saturday loss to Wynhoff. Knauff finished his freshman season at 25-15.

Nellis Friday started his campaign with a 7-5 seeding win over R.C. Carstensen of Almira-Coulee-Hartline. That was for five-six seeding before the actual start of the regional rounds.

The win put Nellis in the number-five slot and he went up against Manny Rubio of Brewster. Rubio pegged a 19-5 tech win.

Nellis then drew a bye in the first consolation round before he and Knauff paired off at the end of the first day of competition.

Nellis finished out his senior year with a 7-8 mark in the 152 class and a 15-14 in the 160 class.

St. John-Endicott sophomore Thomas Newton was pinned by Lincoln Hass of Pateros early in his first match Friday. Newton, who was bumped up to the number-three seed before the start of the tourney, drew a bye in the first consolation round. He was then pinned by Oroville’s Davis Castillo in the second round for a wrap of his season.