Matmen compete at Culver Invitational

Sisters had 18 wrestlers competing in the Culver Invitational held on Friday and Saturday, December 11 and 12. Four wrestlers made it to the podium: junior Zach Reid took third, junior Mitch Gibney took fifth, and freshman Cole Pade and junior Clayton Darst both finished sixth.

Twenty schools were represented, including 3A, 4A, and some 5A schools from all over the state. Culver took first-place honors with a team score of 251, Glide finished second at 189 and Crook County was third at 187.5.

Cole Pade won an upset victory over Zach Reid in a wrestle-off in practice on Thursday to earn the varsity spot at 120 pounds, but fell to Reid in a semi-final round at the tournament. Reid went on to pin Lawson from Crook County with a stack for a third-place finish. Pade finished sixth.

Coach John Downs stated, "I am very pleased with Zach and Cole. They have been working hard in practice, especially freshman Pade. You can sure tell in practice and at the tournament that Pade was on the cross-country team last fall. His cardio in the third round of matches is paying off."

Gibney (195 pounds) lost to the No. 1-seeded wrestler Beard from Glide by a score of 4-3, but Gibney fought back through consolations including three pins to finish fifth. Darst (169 pounds) earned his way to a sixth-place spot by pinning three of his opponents.

The Outlaws had some other standout matches at the tournament. Freshman Dustin Smith, in his first wrestling season, earned his first win with a pin. Freshman Patrick Dingeman (195 pounds) was able to slip out of a double-trouble move where he was on his back about to be pinned. Downs stated that it is a near-impossible move to get out of.

Downs said, "The whole team fought very hard this weekend, and you could see that they understood that every team point counted and they all did their best to fight off being pinned."

The Outlaws have been building up their wrestling team over the last few years, and have gone from three wrestlers to 22 wrestlers in four years. This year they were able bring a larger team to Culver and placed 12th out of 19 teams.

"Our goal was to be in the top 10 and we came very close," said Downs. "It was the highest Sisters has ever placed at the Invite."

The Outlaws will travel to Ridgeview Friday and Saturday, December 19-20, for the annual Al Invite.