The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

The Wahkiakum Mule wrestling team brought home two state medals as Chris Mendez (160 lbs) and Brady Johns (135 lbs) both placed at Mat Classic XIX last week in Tacoma.

The Mule contingent of seven wrestlers started competition Friday morning and let three matches slip away during round one, said Coach John Hannah. Johns and Mendez won their openers and advanced to the championship semi-finals. Kevin O’Connor (103 lbs), Jared McEntire (112 lbs), Joel Fudge (140 lbs), Jon Murphy (145 lbs), and James Lewis (152 lbs) all lost during round one.

During round two on Friday evening, the Mule wrestlers found some of the success that they were looking for, Hannah said. O’Connor, McEntire, and Lewis all won matches that advanced them to the consolation semi-finals. Fudge and Murphy both lost but nearly upset higher seeded wrestlers. During the round, both Johns and Mendez lost to top ranked wrestlers.

On Saturday morning, the Mules had five wrestlers competing in the consolation semi-finals. Winning these matches would place them in the consolation finals and earn them either a third or fourth place state medal. Only Johns and Mendez were able to move on to the next round.

"O’Connor, McEntire, and Lewis all wrestled well and had opportunities to win their matches before falling in the end," Hannah said.

The Mules won one of the two consolation semi-final matches.

Johns lost to Josh Eldred of Reardon who fell to the consolation round earlier in the day. Eldred was the top ranked wrestler at 135 pounds all year. Johns was able to hold off Eldred for most of the match but was taken down tilted early in the second round which placed him fourth in state.

Mule senior Chris Mendez used a hammer lock in his

final match, which he won to claim third in the 160

lb. class. Photos by Keith Burns.

Mendez had a rematch with Matt Slaybaugh of Pomeroy who he had faced in round one. Slaybaugh was ranked fourth in state before entering the tournament, and Mendez was unranked. Mendez was able to defeat Slaybaugh decisively for the second time in the tournament. His second win against Slaybaugh earned Mendez his third in state placing.