For The Vidette
The Montesano High School wrestlers placed sixth out of 14 teams at the 30th The Rock wrestling tournament Dec. 29 on Vashon Island.
Monte claimed one championship when 160-pounder Brent Hollatz scored a pin over Vashon’s Isaac Escovedo at 1 minute, 23 seconds of the first period. Hollatz’s route to the championship included pins of Forks’ Ricky Barragan and Lakside’s Nathan Baldwin. In his semifinal bout Hollatz scored a convincing a 14-6 major decision over Hayden Queen of Forks.
Monte head coach Jeff Klinger praised Hollatz for his steady performance and indicated that the junior wrestler is showing rapid improvement. Hollatz has a season record of 10-4 and has placed in each of the tournaments he’s entered. Klinger named Hollatz as the season’s second Bulldog Wrestler of The Week. Klinger said Hollatz is on track to exceed his stellar achievements of last season when he qualified for the state tournament and made the Top 12 at 145 pounds.
Also placing at Vashon for the Bulldogs were Cooper Johansson, second at 113 pounds; Aaron Lano, third at 126; Ty Ekerson, third at 138; Kai Olson, second at 182; and Kenny Koonrad, fourth at 285.
Montesano coaches were pleased with their teams’ performance but indicated that they were represented in only 10 of 14 weight classes.
Several athletes were either ill, injured or unavailable for the event.
Klinger singled out Johansson for special recognition, indicating the talented sophomore was entered as a second, nonscoring entry behind top seeded Bulldog senior Andy Fry.
“Fry was not feeling well and withdrew from the tournament after his first match,” Klinger said. “That meant that we were left with scoring wrestlers in just 9 weights. But, Johansson really took up the slack at 113 pounds for us.”
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, a second entry at the same weight does not score team points. Usually a second-place finish like Johansson’s scores the team 22 points.
Johansson recorded three pins before falling in the title match to Lakesides’ Parker Steinebaugh. In addition to Hollatz and Johansson, Olson qualified for the final. He had two pins before losing a 7-5 decision in the finals.
Many of the Washington’s top Class 1A teams were represented in the Vashon event, and Monte finished behind eventual champion Forks, Zillah, Lakeside Nine Mile Falls, Mount Baker and Granite Falls, which is a Class 2A team. Local contingents from Hoquiam and Elma also participated.
Most of the Bulldogs varsity team will travel to an invitational Saturday at Mount Rainier High School. The junior varsity and freshman teams will compete in a varsity tournament at North Beach.
“Splitting our team is the best way to get all of our kids the experience they need,” Klinger said. “We have a very large and talented group of freshman wrestlers, and the North beach event should be a great experience for them.”
The Bulldogs plan to follow the same pattern in the weeks ahead as the varsity and JV squads will split to participate in separate events on most weekends for the remainder of the season.
