Royal wins two mat duals

by Ted Escobar
| January 22, 2017 12:00 AM

ROYAL CITY — Royal High School got off to a hot start last week in SCAC East dual meet wrestling with a 66-6 win over Wahluke and 50-15 defeat of Kiona-Benton.

The victories put the Knights at the top of the league with a 2-0 record. They wrestled again Saturday, finishing fourth at the Apple Pie Wrestling Tournament at Tonasket.

The win over Wahluke was led by Eduardo Rodriguez, Kevin Pastor, Addin Felker, Jose Galindo, Yovani Cruz, and C.J. Quintero, all of whom pinned their opponents.

Against Ke-Be, Royal got pins from Regan Callahan, Victor Santillan, and decisions from Eduardo Rodriguez, Abraham Medina, Addin Felker, and Jose Galindo.

“We wrestled very well, considering that we missed out on two days of practice due to the weather last week,” coach Pat Mitchell said.

Saturday at the Apple Pie Wrestling tournament in Tonasket, the top 10 team finishes were: 1. Tonasket 191.5; 2. Reardan 189; 3. Warden 157.5; 4. Royal 154; 5. Cascade 75. 6. Cashmere 55.5; 7. Kettle Falls 43.5; 8. Chewelah 29; 9. Brewster 28; 10. Okanogan 20.

Royal had two individual champions. Eduardo Rodriguez (120 pounds) defeated the second-place finisher in the state B tournament last year, Anthony Martinez of Warden, 4-2.

Addin Felker (145) won the other individual crown, defeating Thomas Perryman, 15-4.

Second place finishers for Royal were Abraham Medina at 126, Kevin Pastor at 132 and C.J. Quintero at 182. Third placer finishers were Rodolfo Flores at 106, Lorenzo Myrick at 145, Jack Diaz at 170 and Jose Jimenez at 195. Eight of Royal’s wrestlers finished in the top 3 at their weights.

“We wrestled well but fell short of our team goal for the tournament,” Mitchell said. “Next week we are at Cle Elum on Thursday and at Dream Duals on Saturday.”

The Cle Elum affair will be a non-league double dual against Cle Elum and Zillah. The Dream Duals will be held at the Spokane Convention Center.