Tonasket junior Tyler Laurie holding down Warden’s Cesar Rangel as he attempts to turn him over during the 130 pound Championship Round at the Apple Pie Tournament in Tonasket on Saturday, Jan. 16. Laurie won by decision 5-2 for first place. Photo by Em

TONASKET – The Tonasket Tigers took second place while the Oroville Hornets tied for fifth at the Apple Pie Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 16.

With 205 points, Warden High School took first place while Tonasket scored 159 points for second place, Chewelah scored 112 points for third, Republic scored 95.5 points for fourth, Oroville tied with Kettle Falls with 71 points for fifth, Liberty Bell scored 50 points for seventh and Okanogan scored 48 points for eighth.

At 103 pounds, Tonasket’s Jared Stedtfeld received two byes before pinning Denny Lorz of Okanogan and being pinned by Javier Tapia of Warden for second place. At 112 pounds, Tonasket’s Ryker Marchand received one bye before pinning Zach Bridges of Chewelah and then being pinned by J.P. Martinez of Warden and Steven Cole of Kettle Falls. At 119 pounds, Tonasket’s Dalton Wahl received one bye before being pinned by Colton Skelton of Liberty Bell. In the consolation bracket, Wahl received two more byes, beat Ryan Rollins of Republic by injury default and was pinned by Carlos Gomez of Warden for fourth place.

At 125 pounds, Tonasket’s Brenden Brereton received a bye before losing by 15-2 decision to Levi Larson of Republic. After another by, he pinned Curtis Durbin of Kettle Falls and was then pinned by Justin McMillan of Liberty Bell. Also wrestling at 125 pounds was Collier Brereton who received a bye before being pinned by McMillan. C. Brereton then received another bye before losing by 11-4 decision to Alex Kelly of Oroville. Kelly began the tournament with a bye as well before being pinned by Daniel Trudeau of Chewelah. After beating C. Brereton, Kelly was pinned by Ernesto Orozco of Warden.

At 130 pounds, Tonasket’s Tyler Laurie received a bye before winning by a 13-2 decision over Anthony Platas of Warden. He then beat Marcos Fonseca of Okanogan by a 9-0 decision and Cesar Rangel of Warden by a 5-2 decision to become the Champion. Enrique Ortega of Tonasket also wrestled at 130. He began the tournament with a bye and then lost by a 14-13 decision to David Vilchiz of Chewelah. After two more byes, Ortega pinned Fonseca and beat Platas by an 11-9 decision for third place. Oroville’s Ivan Rodriguez also wrestled at 130. After a bye, Rodriguez lost to Fonseca by a technical fall and then after another bye he lost to Platas by a pin.

“I felt I did really well. I’ve always wanted to win the Apple Pie Tournament and I finally did, so it feels good,” Laurie said. He added that the pie tastes really good. “I haven’t had a whole lot of matches this season, but I’ve gotten second and first at my tournaments so I think I’m doing good for what I’ve done so far. The team’s doing really well this season. We’re ranked ninth and we’ve had a lot of guys in the finals, so we’re giving everybody a run for their money.”

Wrestling at 135 pounds for Tonasket were Riley Buzzard and Austin Booker. After two byes, Buzzard pinned Russell Smith of Chewelah and was then pinned by Scott Henderson of Warden for second place. Booker began the tournament with a bye before pinning Armando Fonseca of Okanogan and then being pinned by Henderson. Booker then pinned Iver Niesel of Warden and Fonseca again for third place.

At 140 pounds, Oroville Nike Perez received two byes before beating Tonasket’s Peter Williams by 13-1 decision. Perez then lost by 13-5 decision to Sam Suarez of Warden for second place. Williams received one bye before beating Jovan Lopez of Okanogan by 6-3 decision. After losing to Perez, Williams beat Carmello Deleon of Warden by 9-0 decision and was then pinned by Brandon Roy of Chewelah for fourth place.

Wrestling in the 145 pound weight class, Oroville’s Mike Lynch received a bye before pinning Ryan Kells of Okanogan. He then beat Tonasket’s Lee Leavell by a 15-8 decision before losing to Scotty Bacon by an 18-2 decision for second place. Leavell began the tournament with a bye before beating Tyler Olson of Chewelah by a 7-4 decision. After losing to Lynch, Leavell lost to Jonathan McMillan of Liberty Bell.

At 152 pounds, Oroville’s Eric Ruiz received a bye before being pinned by Adam Collins of Chewelah. After two more byes, Ruiz lost to Cody Brown of Republic by an injury default.

Wrestling at 160 pounds, Tonasket’s Andrew Grillo received a bye before pinning Hayden Dogget of Liberty Bell. Grillo then beat Chuck Myers of Liberty Bell in an 8-0 decision and Tanner Bolt of Kettle falls in an 11-10 decision to become the Champion. Jose Valesco of Oroville also wrestled at 160. After a bye, Valesco was pinned by Tanner Bolt of Kettle Falls. After another bye, he beat Cruz Pruneda of Warden by a 6-3 decision and pinned Myers. Valesco lost to Ethan Colbert in a 15-0 decision for fourth place.

At 171 pounds, Tonasket’s Keegan McCormick received a bye before pinning Johnny Pruneda of Warden and Tyler Herrera of Oroville. He then beat Sam Fisk of Chewelah in a 15-2 decision to become the Champion. Herrera started the tournament with a bye and then pinned Charles Platt of Kettle Falls. After losing to McCormick, Herrera pinned Shane Coleman of Liberty Bell before being pinned by Dakota Scott of Warden for fourth place.

Wrestling at 189 pounds, Tonasket’s Corey McCrarey received two byes before pinning Oroville’s Eric Herrera. McCrarey was then pinned by Adam Hansen of Warden for second place. E. Herrera began the tournament with a bye before pinning Martinez of Warden. After losing to McCrarey, E. Herrera received another bye and was then pinned by Hugo Rodriguez of Warden for fourth place.

Wrestling at 215 pounds for Tonasket was Brandon Hudson who began the tournament with a bye. He then pinned Devlon Sommer of Kettle Falls and Matt Deloen of Warden to become the Champion. Finally, wrestling at 285 pounds for Oroville was Gabe Beltran who also began the tournament with a bye. He then pinned Alex Pugh of Kettle Falls before being pinned by John Delap of Okanogan. After pinning Gabe Ochoa of Liberty Bell, Beltran was pinned by Gerino Luna of Warden for fourth place.

“We had three mats this year so that made the tournament go real fast,” Dave Mitchell, Tonasket’s head coach, said. “I thought Tonasket did real well. We had seven guys in the finals and had four champions. Also, we were able to get a couple of JV guys in and they did real well. Enrique Ortega at 130 pounds and Austin Booker at 135 pounds both placed third which was real good for them.”

Mitchell said he feels the team is getting stronger as the season progresses and since there are only three weeks until districts, he thinks the team is coming right along.

“The Apple Pie Tournament was a long day, but a lot of fun,” Mitchell said. “There are a lot of volunteers and helpers and the fact that it ran smoothly was a tribute to their hard work.”