Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Up against opponents who beat them before, three Colfax High wrestlers won redemptive matches to make the state tournament at the Tacoma Dome.
Thomas Newton, Mitch Barney, Kevin Knauff, Evan Lord and Ray Compton go to state.None of the three have made it there before. They join two other Colfax qualifiers for state along with one alternate.
Senior Thomas Newton of St. John had missed making state for the past three years by one match every time. This year, his last, he fought to beat Josey Anderson of Reardan 12-10 to make it to Tacoma in the 138-pound class. The match was for fifth-place in the region.
Anderson had just beat Newton in the subregional tournament last week.
“It was a huge win for Newton,” said Colfax coach Dennis Gransbery. “His hard work and dedication has paid off.”
In the 160-pound class, Kevin Knauff of Gar-Pal, who had missed the state tournament the past two years, met Ryan Smith-Slaymaker of Pomeroy in the semifinal round. Slaymaker beat Knauff the week before but this time, Knauff outscored him to advance to the final. There he pinned Cody Hoffman of Selkirk in the second round to win the title and earn a slot in Tacoma.
At 182 pounds, Colfax’s Evan Lord took the mat against Zach Hill of WCK in the fifth-place match (the last entry into state). Earlier in the year, Lord had lost to Hill but this time he beat him 2-0.
It will be Lord’s first trip to state as last year he was out due to a shoulder injury from football season.
In the 113-pound class, Mitch Barney of Colfax took second with a loss in the final round to Kain Feltwell of Liberty 7-1. Feltwell also beat Barney last week at the sub-regional tournament.
“He’ll have to prepare this week to beat him in Tacoma,” said Gransbery.
At 195 pounds, junior Ray Compton took third-place by beating Joey Dickinson of Selkirk 6-2. Compton earned his first trip to the state tournament.
In the 120-pound class, Trapper Askins will be an alernate for the East Region in Tacoma after an 8-6 loss to James Monaghan of Lake Roosevelt to finish sixth.
The season ended for Colfax wrestlers Dalton McNeilly (senior, 145), Tyson Rogers (freshman, 120) and Reggie Jones (freshman, 132).
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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