There is nothing more intense than a wrestling dual coming down to the last match.
It is all the more intense when it is Battle Ground versus Prairie.
The Battle Ground Tigers boys wrestling squad hopped on state Route 503 heading north and emerged victorious in a rapid-fire dual featuring nine pins and two tech-falls between the Tigers and Prairie Falcons.
The final pin of the night came by way of Ryder Kittleson at 132 pounds over Prairie’s Joel Sturdivant to secure the team win of 41-34 on Wednesday, Dec. 10.
“It seems like the last three years it has come down to the last match,” Tigers head coach Jake Motzkus said. “They’ve been really exciting duals, and Prairie always has a tough team, and it seems like I’ve always got like, not an ideal lineup. I had a forfeit at 215 and a couple of kids wrestling up to cover weights. But I'm thankful to pull it off, and the kids are so tough.”
The Tigers secured five pins and the two tech-fall wins from stellar wrestlers Zackery Motzkus at 150 pounds and Andrew Grey at 165 pounds.
Prairie’s standout wrestler, Tommie Vick, wrestling at 138 pounds, kicked the night off and set the tone with some point scoring in a 11-1 win over Battle Ground’s Rodolfo Espinoza Mendoza.
The Tigers found a streak with four straight wins. The Falcons also found a streak with four straight wins, including the forfeit at 215 pounds. And then Battle Ground went on to find a streak of three pins in the lightest weights with 106-pounder Jack Bowdish, 113-pounder Emmett Cass and 120-pounder Clyde Cass.
The Falcons really put the pressure on with a pin by Remington Hewes over Battle Ground’s Carter Stewart at 126- pounds. Hewes’ win brought the Falcons to 31 points, three behind Battle Ground. The next result at 132 pounds secured the team win; and it went the Tigers’ way.
Both the Tigers and Falcons will next be hitting the tournament circuit in the Pacific Northwest. High school wrestling tournaments end up being one of the key ways to prepare for the postseason gauntlet en route to a coveted spot in a final match during the Mat Classic in the Tacoma Dome.
“A lot of those tournaments will have finals that are tougher than the state finals because you end up getting kids that are 2A, 3A, 4A, all wrestling each other,” Jake Motzkus said. “So some of the toughest kids from 2A and the toughest kids from 4A maybe end up in the finals together, which they rarely wrestle each other. So, I’m really excited about that.”
One of the best high school wrestling tournaments in the Pacific Northwest will take place at the end of the month in Clark County. The Pac Coast Wrestling Championships will be held at the Clark County Event Center, 17402 NE Delfel Road, Ridgefield, on Monday, Dec. 29, and Tuesday, Dec. 30. The tournament will feature boys and girls high school wrestlers from around Washington, Oregon and even California.
For more information, visit paccoastwrestling.com.
