Pullman take home three State Championships

PULLMAN - With the 2023-24 High School wrestling season coming to an end, the top wrestlers in Washington traveled to Tacoma to compete in the Mat Classic state championship tournament.

The tournament was held on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 16 and 17.

Both the Colfax Bulldogs and Pullman Greyhounds sent athletes to compete in the Classic.

Colfax had two athletes score points in the meet, with Cooper Phillips taking sixth.

For the Greyhounds, they had four athletes score points, with three of them becoming state champions.

Israel Acosta took first for the Greyhounds in the 2A 144 pound division. Ivan Acosta took first in the 2A 150 pound division, and Aydin Peltier took first in the 2A 157 pound division.

Pullman scored 88 team points on the day, finishing fourth-best in the 2A division. Orting High School took first for 2A with 299.5 team points.

The Bulldogs held their own in the Mat Classic, scoring 13 team points.

The 13 team points scored by the Colfax boys wrestling team was enough to see them finish 31st overall in the 1B/2B state championship standings. First place was taken by Tonasket, who scored 217 team points.

There were a total of 39 1B/2B teams who competed at the Mat Classic.

Ty Scott scored three team points for Colfax in the 1B/2B 106 pound division.

After receiving a bye in the first round, Scott would lose by fall in 3:57 to Anthony Torres of Granger.

Scott earned his first win of the meet in the consolation round two match, earning the victory by fall in 3:47 against Alex Richards of Adna.

During the consolation round three match, Scott would lose by fall in :57 to Jace Linithakan of Ilwaco.

Cooper Phillips took sixth overall, scoring 10 team points in the 1B/2B 126 pound division.

Phillips would receive a first-round bye before winning by major decision against Wyeland Lomedico of North Beach, 15-1.

Phillips would lose by fall in the semifinal round in 3:23 to Gerardo Hernandez of Tonasket.

After the semi-final loss, Phillips lost by fall in 2:53 to Yolo Paz of Liberty Bell.

Phillips fell during the fifth/sixth place match in 2:40 to Harrison Suzara of Kalama.

Dillon Gassenberg competed in the 1B/2B 132 pound division for Colfax. He started his day with a loss by fall in 4:20 to Eddieshiloh Cormier-Higgins of Muckleshoot Tribal School.

Gassenberg would receive a bye in the next round before losing by fall in 2:23 to Walker Rondeau of Forks.

For Pullman, Evan McDougle scored five team points with an eighth-place finish in the 2A 132 pound division.

His day started with a first-round loss by decision against Logan Peach of Shelton, 10-8.

After the loss, McDougle would win by fall in 3:38 against Jordan Jopson of Anacortes.

McDougle followed his victory with another victory, this time by decision against Leif Holmgren of Ellensburg, 7-4.

In the match for seventh place, McDougle would lose by decision against Peach, 6-1.

The first state champion on the day for the Greyhounds was Israel Acosta. He took first overall in the 2A 144 pound division, scoring 30 team points.

Acosta would win by fall in 1:16 against Colin Mcgiverin of Sehome to open his meet.

After the first-round win, Acosta won his quarterfinal match by fall in :44 against Cole Schumacher of Enumclaw.

During the semifinal round, Acosta earned the victory by fall in 1:23 against Kellen Soares of Sedro-Woolley.

The championship match saw Acosta win by fall in 5:34 against Julian Sanchez of Grandview.

Ivan Acosta followed Israel with a state championship victory in the 2A 150 pound division.

Ivan would win by fall in 1:01 against Simeon Blas of Squalicum in the opening round match.

Ivan won by fall in 1:44 in the quarterfinal match against Charles Broughton of North Manson.

In the semi-final round, Ivan would win again by fall in 1:14 against Connor Schueller of Lakewood.

The first-place match saw Ivan earn the hard-fought victory by decision against Apollo Cruz of Orting, 5-3.

The final state championship for Pullman came in the 2A 157 pound division. Aydin Peltier took the trophy, along with 25 team points for the Greyhounds.

Peltier started his championship run with a victory by fall in 1:50 against Akshdeep Dhaliwal of Renton.

During the quarterfinal match, Peltier would win by major decision against Ammon Combs of Black Hills, 14-0.

After advancing to the semi-final round, Peltier would win by decision against Aidan Watkins of Aberdeen, 7-3.

The championship match saw Peltier earn the victory by decision against Caleb Dale of White River, 3-0.

Colfax did not have their lone girl wrestler, Grace Jones, competing.

Jones was eliminated from a chance to compete in the state tournament as she took sixth overall in her regional meet the week prior.