Submitted by Coach Matt Stacey

For the regular season grand finale, the Wahkiakum Mule wrestlers were poised to head to Kalama for the famous Rubber Chicken. However the weekend at Hoquiam had a negative side effect, and coming off a week of illness, the team was only able to field a partial lineup of nine wrestlers ready for battle. Of those nine, five were able to earn their way onto the victor's stand.

This week’s lone Mule in a finals singlet was junior Jesús Crawford (132). Jesús had recently come down from 138 and was able to use his explosive strength to good advantage. He earned his way to the finals against Drew Angelos from Ocosta, where he was forced to settle with second for this week after a solid day.

Sophomore Alex Johnson and junior Nate Cothren were next on the Mules honor list, earning thirds. Johnson who was wrestling at 126 and Cothren at 160, both battled through the back door to earn their placings. Dallas Gott (106) and Mason Mackey (138) rounded out the Mule place winners with fifth place finishes. Mackey chose to default his final match as he was still recovering from illness.

From here, the Mules hope to return to full strength for the final two regularly scheduled mix and matches as fine tuning before tournament time. February’s first three weekends signal the end of season with subdistricts, regionals and finally the state tournament in the Tacoma Dome.