This past weekend, the Montesano High School wrestling team participated in the Lindbergh Invitational in Renton where they did a little “giant killing.”
The 20 teams entered in the tournament included squads from Hillsboro, Oregon; British Columbia, Canada; and Eastern Washington.
Three seniors (Andy Fry, Mason Lutes and Kai Olson) were among the 10 Monte wrestlers at the meet, which included wrestlers up to Class 4A. When it was all done, the Bulldogs earned third place, just five points behind 4A Issaquah. Prosser (2A) took first.
“We were in second most of the day but came up a little short in the finals,” assistant coach Jeff Catterlin said. Catterlin was filling in for head coach Jeff Klinger, who missed the outing because of a scheduling conflict with an important family celebration.
Nine Bulldogs earned medals by placing in the top six in their weight class:
Freshman Jacob Salstrom (106 pounds) finished third. Senior Andy Fry was second and sophomore Cooper Johansson fourth at 113 pounds. Junior Aaron Lano was fourth at 120. Sophomore Ty Ekerson was second at 132. Junior Brent Hollatz was fourth and senior Mason Lutes fifth at 160. Senior Kai Olson was third at 182. And freshman Kenny Koonrad placed fourth at 285.
Although Monte failed to capture an individual championship in the tournament, their coaches were pleased with their early season effort. Salstrom, Fry, Ekerson and Olson each lost a single match and Olson’s loss, in particular, was a controversial one.
“Kai was awarded a takedown by the official,” assistant coach Darrel White said. Then the call was overturned in a lengthy and controversial decision. “We are absolutely certain that the correct call was made initially and with it, Kai would have won the match outright.”
Following the loss of his takedown points, Olson and his opponent tied in regulation time, and, in sudden death overtime, Olson gave up a takedown and lost the match.
“It was unfortunate,” assistant coach Austin Cain said, “but Kai did a great job and improved dramatically over his match with the same opponent just a week before at Bonney Lake.”
At the Bonney Lake match, Olson was pinned while leading.
In other exciting action on the part of the Bulldogs, several Monte wrestlers came from behind to win close matches. Ekerson, Hollatz and Koonrad all battled their way through tough matches to overcome trailing their opponents early. In one of the more exciting turn rounds of the day for the Bulldogs, senior Mason Lutz was trailing his Eastlake opponent 9-1 in their fifth-sixth pace match when he uncorked a lateral drop for a pin with less than 20 seconds remaining.
“Mason said that this was the first time he had ever tried the lateral,” White said, “but he really nailed the exciting throw and brought us all to our feet.”
Klinger had high praise for his wrestlers.
“They did a great job, especially considering the size of the other schools involved. We are focusing on finding tough competition and wrestling as much as we can,” he said. “These early season events are a great opportunity to learn through competition and while we don’t place much emphasis on individual or team victories at this point, it is exciting to see the kids do well.
“What we are really interested in is progress and improvement and that is exactly what we are seeing. I think that we are definitely on track to be at our very best when it counts the most, in the post season.”
Based upon his achievement and progression so far, Coach Klinger has named freshman Salstrom as the first Bulldog Wrestler of the Week for the 2018-19 season.
“Salstrom has an 11-2 record and has placed third in all three of the tournaments that we have entered. He is doing an amazing job considering the fact that he is a ninth-grader and actually is outweighed by most of his opponents. Salstrom wrestles at 106 pounds but normally tips the scales at about 102 pounds.”
Klinger also had high praise for freshman Koonrad, who is wrestling varsity at 285 pounds. Very few freshman wrestlers compete successfully as varsity heavyweights, but Koonrad has placed third and fourth in consecutive tournaments.
Elsewhere
The Bulldogs dropped an exciting one point loss to 2A Centralia in a nonleague dual this past week but winning matches for the Bulldog varsity were Salstrom, Fry, Lano, Ekerson, Hollatz, Augie Arreguin and Olson. Monte faced 2A Chehalis in a dual on Wednesday, Dec. 19, at Chehalis, which was over too late for this edition.
