Three Colfax seniors take state medals

Reggie Jones on the way to an 8-4 decision over Daniel Espinoza in a quarterfinal win in the 145 class. Jones placed sixth for his second state medal.

Mitch Barney gets the second place medal on the awards stand next to 152-pound winner Jorge Juarez of Tonasket.

Colfax wrestlers rolled to three medals Saturday in the final round of the Mat Classic wrestling tournament at the Tacoma Dome. The Bulldogs, who had six wrestlers in the all-B division lineup at the start of the action, rolled up 50 team points to finish just 1.5 short of the top ten in the state event.

Coach Dennis Gransbery noted the overall finish was the best the Bulldogs have marked in the six years he has headed the program.

Colfax seniors Reggie Jones at 145, Mitch Barney at 152 and Brian DeYoung at 195 collected the medals.

Barney went all the way to the championship match before sustaining a 6-11 loss to Jorge Juarez of Tonasket. Gransbery noted the title win for Juarez was his third for the B finals action at Tacoma. Barney actually had Juarez on his back and was going for a pin when the clock ran out in the championship match.

Reggie Jones, who placed second in the 145 class at state last year, advanced to the semi-final round this year and was stopped by Meritt Fink of Liberty Bell on a pin in the second round.

Fink, who went on to take the title with a 1-0 decision in the championship round, is a younger brother to Emmet Fink, who stopped Jones in the 145 title match last year.

Jones advanced to the semi on a bye and a 11-8 decision over Daniel Espinoza in the quarter final round. After the semi loss, Jones sustained two consolation losses to finish in sixth place.

Brian DeYoung placed fourth in the 195 class to wrap up his mat career for the Bulldogs. DeYoung was stopped in the quarter-final round and picked up three wins in consolation to get into the match for third and fourth place. He placed fourth after being pinned by Ian Hunton of Dayton in the first round.

Coach Gransbery noted Hunton's run through the consolation bracket included an 8-1 decision over Maxwell Johnson, the Liberty wrestler who dominated the 195 class in the local competition.

Freshman Garrett Phillips was topped in the second round of consolation after losing his first match at state.

Sophomore Chris Jones advanced to the quarter-final on a bye and took a 6-5 win over Matthias Federer of LRS in the first consolation matchup. He sustained a two point loss in the next consolation round.

Senior Nick McAdams advanced to the quarters on a first-round pin over Garrett Thomas of Tonasket. He was defeated in the quarter match, but picked up a win with an overtime pin in his first consolation match. McAdams then ran into Hunter Schurer of Springdale, another strong NE wrestler in the 220 class, and Schurer booked a second-round pin. Schurer spun out his next match on a 0-4 decision to Brayden Olmstead of Concrete who eventually took the third-place medal in the 220 class.

The Bulldogs 50 team points ranked 11th behind the 176 team win by Warden. Reardan, the top finisher at the regional last week, finished third at 117.5.

Liberty nudged Colfax out of the top 10 with a 51.5 total.

Coach Gransbery said the overall finish at Tacoma bodes well for the team next year. Phillips, Chris Jones and Joey Rogers of Garfield/Palouse are expected to inch up in the competition for next year. Rogers made the trip as a fifth place alternate this year but did not get into a starting slot for the B finals.

Travis Knauff of GP is also expected to return after missing the last two rounds in the 138 class with a fractured collarbone.

106-Garrett Phillips pinned by Osvaldo Dominuqez-Warden 2:22; bye; to Kaleb Horn of Lake Roosevelt, 0-15.

132-Chris Jones bye, pinned by Tony Nichols of Lake Roosevelt, 4:43; over Matthias Federer of LRS, 8-5; to Matthew Slape of Adna, 5-7.

145-Reggie Jones bye, over Daniel Espinoze of Kittitas, 8-4; pinned by Meritt Fink of Liberty Bell, 5:37; pinned by Justis Anderson of Reardan, 3:15; to Donovan Dellinger of Concrete, 2-3, for sixth place.

152-Mitch Barney, bye; pinned Jalen Moses-Okanogan, :39; over Raul Martinez-Warden, 6-5; to Jorge Juarez of Tonasket, 6-11, for second place.

195-Brian DeYoung pinned Dylan Kalmsa of Tonasket 1:13; pinned by Donald Olmstead of Concrete 2:33; over Wyatt Stoddard of Selkirk, 7-3; over Hunter Dianovich of North Beach, 8-1; over Scott Hartvig of Oroville 10-1; to Ian Hunton of Dayton, 1-8 for fourth place.

220-Nick McAdams pinned Garrett Thomas of Tonasket, 2:00; pinned by Mason McKenzie of Darrington, :30; pinned Charles Arrign of Oroville 6:52 (overtime); pinned by Hunter Schurer of Springdale, 3:44.