Exhilarating. Captivating. Thrilling.
The 3A Sub-Regional Championships on Saturday at Hudson’s Bay High School had no shortage of bouts to keep fans on the edge of their seats.
But none was more exciting than Hudson’s Bay’s Nathaniel Carlyle’s 14-13 decision win over Prairie’s Alex Ford at 152 pounds.
After Carlyle took an 8-2 lead and nearly picked up a pin in the opening round, Ford countered with a reversal and three-point nearfall in the second period to pull within 11-9. Ford tied the bout with a takedown, but Carlyle reversed and despite one stalling penalty late, the Hudson’s Bay senior had enough for his first district crown.
“There’s no better feeling than knowing I have to weigh in next week,” said Carlyle, noting his confidence is through the roof.
“Probably more (confidence) than I should have,” he quipped.
Carlyle also had a home-gym advantage of sorts, as a flock of Eagles stood matside to cheer on every move of the first of three Hudson’s Bay champions. Camden Courtney (160 pounds) and Malek Mabrouk (195) also earned championships for Hudson’s Bay, which finished fifth as a team.
“It really picks up your spirits,” Carlyle said of the support.
Prairie won the district title with 363.5 points, fending off Mountain View (346) and Kelso (306.5). The Falcons earned title wins from Jason Wilcox (138), Noah Larsen (120) and Brody Schlaefli (285).
Prairie will look to continue its breakthrough season at regionals next week at Kelso. The top three individuals in each weight class advance to the penultimate round of postseason.
Schlaefli kept the fans engaged by capping the tournament with a sudden-victory win over Kelso’s Brady Phillips, who tied the bout in the final seconds after a stalling penalty. Schlaefli took mere seconds to secure a takedown in overtime.
“As a team, we always practice that we win in overtime,” Schlaefli said. “We condition for that so I knew I was going to win if I just pushed the pace.”
In a match between the two top-ranked 132-pounders in Class 3A, Mountain View’s Noah Messman won a 12-5 decision over Kelso’s Derick Soto.
“For me, I just knew I had to wrestle my best to come out on top,” Messman said. “I just had to stay calm and not overthink it. It’s just another match and I didn’t want to make it bigger than it was.”
The Thunder also secured victories from Hunter Brown (113), Edward Jones (126), Va Ili (182) and Malikiah Batties (220).
Evergreen’s Denny Roa (145) and Kelso’s Ethan Freund (106) rounded out Saturday’s champions.
