Panthers Finish Eighth at Bonney Lake Classic Wrestling Tournament

The Bonney Lake High School wrestling team finished in eighth place at the Bonney Lake Classic wrestling tournament Saturday, Jan. 8, with five wrestlers taking top-five spots in their weight classes. Tahoma, with three first-place finishes, edged Curtis by seven points for the tournament title. Curtis' Mitch Homeyer was named the most outstanding wrestler at the 20-team tournament.

Matt Yuste had the top result for the Panthers, finishing third in the 130-pound division with a 5-4 victory in his final match. Bonney Lake's Jordan Shultz was fourth in the 215-pound division.

Three Bonney Lake wrestlers finished fifth in their weight classes, and all ended their tournament by pinning their opponents -- Anthony Hauser (103 pounds), Tyler Hernandez (153) and DJ Williams (160).

Jesse Vaughn (125 pounds) and Austin Kandior (140) won gold medals for Tahoma. Steven Hopkins had the Bears' biggest win. Hopkins, won won the state title at 103 pounds last year, pinned Orting’s two-time defending state champion Bryce Templemen at 119 pounds.

“We are focused on short-term goals to win the league," Tahoma coach Chris Feist said. "With a long-term goal of being in shape and able to wrestle a full six minutes." 

Curtis, the runner-up, also won three gold medals took home three gold medals: Eddie Cuevas (112 pounds), Kadyn Del Toro (171) and Homeyer (160).

Orting, the state's third-ranked team, finished a disappointing 12th place. The Cardinals were without most of their top wrestlers, including Antonio Brown, the state's No. 1 wrestler at 130 pounds.

Justin Henry of Olympia earned a takedown in overtime against Peninsula's Michael Sly to win at 189 pounds in the match of the tournament. Henry locked onto Sly’s leg and flipped him to the mat for the winning point.

1.     Tahoma 160

2.     Curtis 153

3.     Kentridge 134

4.     Graham-Kapowsin 108

5.     Peninsula 104

6.     Bellarmine Prep 91.5

7.     Olympia 86

8.     Bonney Lake 86

9.     Aubrun Riverside 84

10. Cascade 81

11. Prairie 80

12. Orting 74.5

13. Gig Harbor 73.5

14. Spanaway Lake 64

15. Columbia River 55.5

16. Issaquah 54

17. Skyline 40.5

18. Renton 40.5

103 - Aaron Garcia, Renton

112 - Eddie Cuevas, Curtis

119 - Steve Hopkins, Tahoma

125 - Jesse Vaughn, Tahoma

130 - Kyle Iverson, Gig Harbor

135 - Jacob Spadoni, Gig Harbor

140 - Austin Kandior, Tahoma

145 - Lex Duncan, Cascade

152 - Nolen Spires, Prairie

160 - Mitch Homeyer, Curtis

171 - Kadyn Del Toro, Curtis

189 - Justin Henry, Olympia

215 - Andrew Weitzel, Kentridge

285 - Michael Henry, Graham-Kapowsin

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