Brewster, Pateros wrestlers compete at District 6 championships

Advance to District 5/6 Regionals

Brewster junior Gabe Garcia, in red, mixes it up with Jesse Ginter of Pateros in the 160-pound bracket at the District 6 Championships at Oroville last Saturday. Garcia defeated Ginter by a point and finished fourth in his weight class.

Brewster’s Gabe Garcia is declared the winner as Jesse Ginter of Pateros heads toward the sideline.

Brewster heavyweight Alex Garcia was unopposed in his 285-pound weight class at the District 6 competition.

Posted Thursday, February 8, 2018 10:08 am

Mike Maltais

OROVILLE – For Brewster varsity heavyweight wrestler Alex Garcia, the District 6 Championship Tournament at Oroville last Saturday, Feb. 3, was another grueling ordeal of non-matches leading up to his first-place medal.
While Garcia occasionally checked his iPhone and watched from the upper balcony seating surrounding three sides of the Hornets gym, teammates Gabe Garcia (160 pounds) and Javier Rosario (113 pounds) on the mats below battled for positions in next week’s District 5/6 Regionals in Kittitas. As was the case in the Central Washington 2B League Seeding Mixer at Lake Roosevelt the previous week, Garcia again had no competitor at Oroville in his 285-pound weight bracket.
The District 6 wrestle-off drew six teams – Brewster, Lake Roosevelt, Pateros, Liberty Bell, last year’s state champion Tonasket, and host Oroville – and 63 individual wrestlers competing in 12 weight brackets – 106, 113, 120, 132, 138, 145,152, 160, 170, 182,195, 220, and 285 pounds – but Garcia was the only heavyweight.
The competition consisted of three, two-minute rounds and consolation bouts were one, two, and two minutes. Medals were awarded to the top three finishers in each weight class.
Brewster only sent three wrestlers to District 6,
Pateros, the only 1B school among the six competing, fielded the fourth largest team with 11 wrestlers. Only Tonasket, with 19, and Lake Roosevelt and Oroville with 12 apiece, had larger teams then the Billygoats.
The Tonasket Tigers have another strong team this year to defend their state title and are the top-ranked favorite to do so. The Tigers lost two senior wrestlers to graduation last June, but all their 2017 state champions returned this season to the 19-man squad.
At Oroville last Saturday the Tigers finished first, second or third 19 times in the 14 weight classes and dominated five with both first and second places.
The top five placers in each weight bracket advance to District 5/6 Regional competition in Kittitas this Saturday, Feb. 10. The top three finishers in each division at Regionals will advance to the State Championships at the Tacoma Dome on Feb. 16-17.
Individual finishes
106 lbs.
4th Ramiro Ambriz - Pateros
113 lbs.
6th Danny Dowers - Pateros
132 lbs.
5th Seth Russell - Pateros
145 lbs.
6th Josh Smith - Pateros
160 lbs.
4th Gabe Garcia - Brewster
6th Jesse Ginter - Pateros
170 lbs.
1st Slade Ginter - Pateros
285 lbs.
1st Alex Garcia - Brewster
Team scores
Tonasket        342
Lake Roosevelt   153
Oroville       113
Liberty Bell       60
Pateros           46
Brewster       36