Cardinal wrestlers advance to State

ROYAL CITY – Medical Lake is sending three wrestlers to the Mat Classic State Tournament. Aden Carl, Hudson Raulston and Andrew Roberts punched their tickets to the big dance at the Tacoma Dome February 18-19, following strong performances at the regional tournament in Royal City on Feb. 12.

Arden placed third in the 132-pound weight class. He lost his first match of the season, 8-3, to Carl Kayden Cate from Omak but bounced back strong pinning his next two opponents. The win put Arden in a rematch with Cate, needing another "W" to move on to the Dome.

"Aden completed his tournament by reversing his initial loss to Kayden Cate of Omak, beating him in a grinding 2-1 match," Assistant coach Tory Carl said. "The victory over Cate earned Carl his 3rd place medal and qualified him to participate in his 3rd WIAA State Wrestling Tournament."

Raulston placed fifth in the 113-pound class. He pinned Royal's Issac Torro and Damian Sandoval of Cascade (Leavenworth) in his first two matches. Raulston lost his next two matches to Luis Barajas of Wapato and Jaime Alejandre of Zillah and then pinned his next opponent to stay alive.

Coach Carl said the young wrestler never gave up.

"Raulston placed 5th showing great resilience by overcoming two losses by fall in the middle of his tournament," Carl said. "Bouncing back with a pin of Brock Berger of Deer Park, he secured his 5th place medal and qualification to the state tournament as a freshman."

Roberts dropped three of five matches to place 7th in the 170-pound class.

"Roberts won by fall over Rafael Hernandez of Wapato, lost by fall to Kaiden Kinter of Toppenish, won by fall over Derik Gomis of Omak, lost a 9-1 decision to Genaro Reyna and a win by fall over Hayden Sattler of Colville," Carl said. "While Roberts placed 7th, making him an alternate for the state tournament, he will be wrestling at the state tournament in Tacoma as a wrestler from another team was injured and will be unable to participate."

True Cole also placed 7th in his respective 195-pound class and will advance as an alternate if needed. Cole pinned Ismael Custodio of Wapato and then lost his next match to Joshua Luna of Toppenish. He beat Royal's Noel Alatorre with a 5-2 decision and lost again by pin to Xavier Cardona of Omak. Cole pinned Jonathon Martinez of Zillah in his final match.

Tanner Sellers, Gavin Chaffee, and Isaac Kane took an early exit from regionals after losing their first two matches.