Colfax boys take fourth in south district meet

COLFAX — Schools from the local area took part in the 1B-4A GSL WIAA district wrestling meet, which took place on Saturday, Feb. 3, in Spokane.

20 1B/2B teams took part, split into two groups, eight schools in the north league, and 12 in the south.

The Colfax Bulldogs competed in the south group, finishing fourth overall, scoring 125 team points. Lind-Ritzville/Sprague would take first in the group with 202 team points.

On the north side, Jenkins (Chewelah) took first with 193 team points.

For Colfax, nine boy wrestlers competed. All nine wrestlers placed, headlined by a first-place finish from Cooper Phillips, and a second-place finish from Dillon Gassenberg.

Ty Scott placed third for Colfax in the 106 pound division, scoring 12 team points. He opened his day with a bye, then would lose by major decision against Micah Rocha of Northwest Christian (Colbert), 12-2.

Scott then would receive a bye in the consolation semifinal match, advancing him to the third/fourth place match. Scott would then win by fall in 1:12 over Chance Degon of Liberty (Spangle).

In the 120 pound division, Cody Phillips scored 14 team points after placing fourth. He would win his opening match by fall in 4:52 against Wayland Holmberg of Davenport.

Cody would lose in the semifinals by fall in 1:32 against Alex Matusik of Reardan. He would bounce back with a victory by fall in 2:50 against Cooper Rushing of Ritzville, then lost the third/fourth place match by fall in :50 to Holmberg.

Cooper Phillips would soar to a first place finish in the 126 pound division for Colfax, scoring 22 team points along the way. Cooper would receive a bye in both the first and second rounds before defeating Noah Stegman of Northwest Christian (Colbert) by fall in :28.

For 132 pounds, Dillon Gassenberg placed second, scoring 18 team points.

Gassenberg received a bye in the first round before winning his next match by fall in 4:46 against Brendon Peter-Biggs of Davenport.

After advancing to the first-place match, Gassenberg would run out of gas, losing by fall in :46 to Alexander Bonner of Ritzville.

Alton Burt scored 12 team points for Colfax after placing third in the 144 pound division.

His day started with a first-round bye. Burt then would lose by fall in :50 to Carson Kubik of Ritzville.

After receiving another bye in the consolation semifinal round, Burt would clinch third place with a victory by fall in :49 over Turner Slack of Ritzville.

Austin Campbell scored six team points for the Bulldogs in the 150 pound division with a sixth-place finish. Campbell would lose his opening match by fall in 3:24 to Pete Spain of Ritzville. He then would win by fall in 4:21 over H.K. Bird of Reardan.

In the consolation semifinal round, Campbell would lose by major decision against Noah Saltz of Asotin, 13-5. Campbell then lost the fifth/sixth place match by fall in :20 to Gabriel Carey of Davenport.

Joel Burris gave the Bulldogs 16 team points with his third-place finish in the 157 pound division. He won his quarterfinal match by fall in 1:30 over Carson Reedy of Asotin, advancing him to the semifinals.

In the semifinals, he would fall in :29 to Joel Phillips of Northwest Christian (Colbert).

After receiving a bye, Burris won by fall over Reedy again, this time in 2:51.

11 team points were granted to Colfax thanks to a fifth-place finish from Isaac Nelson in the 190 pound division.

Nelson won by fall in 1:06 against Jarod Hankins of Waitsburg to open his run. He would then lose by fall in 3:01 to Brock Gustaveson of Davenport.

After the loss, Nelson would lose by fall in 1:25 to Coleman Green of Liberty (Spangle). Nelson regrouped, and took fifth after defeating Hankins again by fall in 2:59.

Senior Tristen Burd placed third for Colfax in the 285 pound division, scoring 14 team points.

Burd received a bye in the first round, then lost by fall in 1:12 to Justin Boyea of Asotin.

In the next round, Burd would win by fall in :11 against Malachi Jaynes of Turner (Ritzville).

Burd finished his day with a victory in the third/fourth place match against Malachi Lewis of Asotin. Burd won by fall in :41.

The lone Bulldog girl wrestler was Grace Jones. Jones flew solo throughout the season for Colfax, but was always at the top of the leader boards for each and every meet. This meet was no different, as Jones took third for Colfax in the 115 pound division, scoring 20 team points.

Jones started her day with a bye, then would win by fall in 1:12 against Kamila Espino of Royal.

In the semifinal match, Jones lost by decision against Leila Montague-Crawford of Deer Park, 7-2.

Jones would win her next match in the consolation semifinal match by fall in 4:30 against Leyna Lagunas of Connell.

In the third-place match, Jones would earn a victory against Hafisatu Abess of Pullman by disqualification. Abess was disqualified after intentionally biting Jones on the arm, according to the official records

Scott, Cody and Cooper Phillips, Gassenberg, Burt, Burris, Nelson, and Burd will all wrestle for the Bulldog boys in the regional meet, taking place Saturday, Feb. 10, in Spangle. Jones will wrestle on Saturday, Feb. 10, in Quincy.

For Garfield-Palouse, senior Walker Montgomery was disqualified as he failed to make weight.