Colfax, St. John, GarPal link wrestling programs

The wrestling population on the Colfax mats exceeded 20 at the start of the season with a larger turnout of Bulldogs and five commuters from two other county programs.

Now starting his third season, Bulldog Coach Denis Gransbery has 16 Bulldogs on the mats during pre-season practice sessions with six freshmen joining the ranks.

Also working out at Colfax are Thomas Newton and Gabe Davis from St. John/Endicott and Kevin Knauff, Trapper Askins, and Josh Miller from Garfield/Palouse.

“We just decided to merge the three programs to save some of the costs,” Gransbery noted. Also, the wrestlers will be able to train by practicing against same-sized foes in a larger mat crowd.

While the teams will follow the same schedule, the SJE and GP wrestlers will continue to wear their school uniforms and collect points as individual teams.

Coaches Gary Newton of SJE and Cliff Knauff of GP accompany the wrestlers on the commute.

Kevin Knauff is a 160 junior who last year came within a win of the state finals. Askins is a sophomore at 120. The third GP wrestler is Josh Miller-152, a first year wrestler as a senior.

Thomas Newton is a senior veteran in the 152 class this year and Gabe Davis is a 180-pound senior.

Colfax will have three seniors with Arron Arneson at 236, Dalton McNeilly-152 and Brendan Lord-170.

The senior not present on the team this year is Daython Maltone who has transferred to Pullman High. Maltone and Justin King, a senior last year, also advanced to within one win of earning a slot in the state mat classic at Tacoma.

Juniors on the mats for Colfax include Ray Compton-195, Evan Lord-182, Anthony Ochs-195 and Austin Corean-145.

Bulldog sophomores working out with the team are Brandon Arneson-160 and A.J. Garcia-240.

Coach Gransbery said he believes the six freshman were encouraged to turn out for the high school team this year because last year’s eighth graders worked out next to the high school teams.

Freshmen on the team are Mitch Barney-126, Brian DeYoung-170, Reggie Jones-138, Nick McAdams-220, Tyson Rogers-120 and Isaiah Warner-152.

First mat stop for the Bulldogs will be tonight at the Lakeside jamboree. The crew will then go to the Davenport tournament Saturday.

Coach Gransbery noted most of the wrestlers have logged enough practices to start the season, but some will be sidelined this week until they get squared up in the academics department. He hopes to have six or seven on the road to Lakeside tonight and at Davenport Saturday.