Daniel Joner of Battle Ground on his way to pinning his opponent.
Josiah Sanders of Woodland applies pressure from the top in a match he would win by pin.
Nick Langer of Prairie earned a second-place medal at 195 pounds.
Bracen Nash of Ridgefield (left) wrestling the top-ranked 106 pounder in Oregon 6A.
Area wrestlers closed out 2018 with the Pacific Coast Wrestling Championships held on December 28-29 at Mountain View High School. This is one of the toughest tournaments of the regular season for this area. It is a grinder. Nearly 500 wrestlers representing 40 teams from all over Washington and Oregon competed in this two day event. The caliber of talent on display was impressive. There were 28 returning 2018 state championship placers in the tournament, including five returning state champions.
Prairie placed the highest among North County teams at 14th, led by Nick Langer who made it to the finals and finished second at 195 pounds. Langer earned the most team points of any north county wrestler with an impressive 24 points. Prairie’s Brayden Sofianos took home seventh place at 152 pounds.
Woodland’s team finished in 18th place. Judeah Sanders earned a fifth place medal at 113 pounds, as did his teammate Andrew Pottratz at 285. Gaige Pilot, Josiah Sanders, and JJ Fuerst each took seventh place at 106, 120, and 126 pounds respectively.
Ridgefield finished 28th, with three wrestlers earning medals. Dylan Draper finished fourth at 132, followed by Bracen Nash taking sixth at 106. The freshman Nash wrestled extremely well including in his loss to Oregon’s 6A number one ranked 106 pounder. Bryce Lawrence earned a seventh place finish at 160 pounds.
Battle Ground finished 37th as a team, with no individual wrestlers placing in this tournament.
