Kelso got the team prize, but Prairie and host Columbia River had the most champions Saturday at the Class 3A District 4 wrestling tournament.
Columbia River, in fact, went a perfect 5-0 in the finals, with five pins.
“Unbelievable,” said River senior Sean Cook, who won his 182-pound match in 1 minute and five seconds. “A new experience.”
Prairie also had five champions, including the 195-pound crown for Jose Avila-Leal.
“We work all season for this one week, the next three weeks pretty much,” Avila-Leal said of wrestling postseason — district, regionals, and then state. “To have five people win championships today, that’s pretty incredible.”
Kelso had the other four champions — Bryce Miller (106 pounds), Christian Freund (120), A.J. Hoggatt (145) and Kyle Heaton (170) — and totalled 315 team points. Prairie finished second with 286.
“It’s an opportunity to work one more week and show what we can do,” Avila-Leal said.
Actually, he hopes for two weeks. Avila-Leal was in a close match with Kelso’s Josh Sekne before Avila-Leal got a takedown with two seconds left in the second period to take a 9-5 lead.
“I pay attention to the match, not the clock,” Avila-Leal said. “The clock doesn’t matter. All that matters is what you put into it that very second.”
Still, he acknowledged that having that four-point lead going into the final period helped. It turned out, that was the final, 9-5.
“I felt good, but I’m not satisfied until two weeks from now,” Avila-Leal said, adding his goal is to place at state.
Other Prairie winners included: Tommy Greensky (113), Talen Goodpaster (126), Kodi Walls (132), and Ethan Burris (160).
The Chieftains got pins from Connor Thun (138), Larry Andersen (152), Cook, and then Ricardo Arriola (220) and Holt Douglass (285) in the final two matches. The Chieftains knew they were going for perfection when Douglass took to the mat.
“I told him to go out there, do your thing, and good things will come,” Cook said. “Three of the five of us (Thun, Douglass, and Cook) are seniors. We just thought that was really cool.”
Cook also had a special day as an individual.
“This is definitely a big moment for me,” Cook said. “This is the first tournament I’ve ever won. Been placing third all year until now.”
The top four wrestlers in each weight class advance to compete next week at Kelso High School. The 16-wrestler bracket will be down to eight on Friday for the final eight into regionals Saturday.
