Port Angeles junior Brian Cristion captured first place to remain perfect on the year and the Roughriders claimed third place in team honors at the ninth annual Larry Brown Invitational wrestling tournament at Fife High School on Saturday.
Sequim’s Dakota Hinton, meanwhile, grabbed second place at the prestigious 22-team Battle at the Border in Blaine on Friday and Saturday.
Port Angeles third
FIFE — Cristion won the 182-pound weight class with a technical fall in the finals while seven of his teammates finished in the top five to lift the Riders to third place in the 17-team tourney.
Sunnyside dominated the event with 247 points while Fife was second with 193 and Port Angeles third with 135.5.
Olympic League’s North Mason took fourth with 129.5 while Forks High School claimed eighth place with 95.
The Riders captured third with only 11 wrestlers at the meet. Eight of them placed.
Cristion improved to 8-0 on the year with his individual title while Kacee Garner was runner-up at 160 pounds.
Garner was named wrestler of the week for Dec. 5-10 in part for his performance at the invitational.
“Kacee had a huge win on Wednesday against a state-ranked opponent from Kingston, and then followed it up on Saturday by taking his first trip to the finals in a tournament,” Port Angeles coach Erik Gonzalez wrote in a news release.
Garner’s win against Kingston helped the Riders earn a crucial 39-35 victory between two teams that will challenge for an Olympic League team title.
The Buccaneers have beaten the Riders the past two years by close dual-meet scores. The two teams tied for second last year.
Cristion, meanwhile, was named Roughrider Student-Athlete of the Week for Nov. 28-Dec. 2.
“Brian won his first tournament at Cleveland High School in Seattle with three big pins in all three of his matches,” Gonzalez wrote.
“He is showing great leadership and support for his teammates both in practice and in competition. He is also an academic honor student.”
Others placing at the invitational for the Riders were Josh Basden at 113, Kody Steele at 152 and Corey Roblan at 220, all claiming third place; and Brady Anderson at 106, Ozzy Swagerty at 120 and Nick Lasorsa at 170, all capturing fifth place.
The Riders next travel to Bellingham on Saturday for the Graham Morin Tournament at Squalicum High School with action starting at 10 a.m.
Sequim 12th
BLAINE — The Wolves took 12th place out of 22 teams at the two-day Battle at the Border.
Sequim had three placers out of only nine entries at the 32-wrestler bracket tournament, which included six top-20 ranked teams.
Hinton was second at 170 while fellow co-captain Clay Charley took fourth at 285 and Luke Mooney was sixth at 138.
Hinton, a senior, became the first Sequim wrestler to reach the tourney finals in four years with three quick pins in the preliminary rounds.
He squared off against Class 3A Everett’s Conner Boyce, last year’s state runner-up at 160, and dominated the top-ranked wrestler for two rounds while building a 7-2 lead.
Boyce managed a reversal and closed with an inside-leg trip takedown and near-fall to edge Hinton 9-8 in the last 15 seconds.
Charley, meanwhile, gave Mount Baker’s Alec Postlewait — the current No. 1-ranked 2A heavyweight — all he could handle before dropping a close 4-2 decision in the semifinals.
Postlewait has two state medals, finishing fifth in 2010 and third last year.
Charley finished with a 3-2 tourney record.
Mooney turned in an impressive two-day performance with four wins and three losses to capture sixth place in a weight class loaded with 10 state and regional participants.
Also for Sequim, Cole Morgan at 132, Lopaka Yasumura at 170 and Austin Leach at 182 all finished the tourney with two wins and two losses each.
The Wolves next head to the Kitsap Pavilion on Friday for the two-day Hammerhead Invitational, which is a 32-team extravaganza on eight mats.
