The Rainier High School boys wrestling team didn’t even plan to compete in the Stonetown Throwdown tournament at Tenino High School Saturday, Dec. 21. Earlier that week, the Mountaineers were scheduled to help with the girls’ Lady Mountaineer Invitational, but after the tournament was cancelled due to an official shortage, boys head coach Chris Holterman had to scramble to find some competition before his team went on winter break.
He told the team of the major competition updates during the evening of Tuesday, Dec. 17, and while Rainier was short on wrestlers due to vacation and illness, the Mountaineers took fourth during the tournament and were led by three first-place winners. Zander Peck came out on top in the 165-pound bracket, Jayden Alegarbes prevailed in the 132-pound division, and Blake Roberts triumphed at 215.
Jacob Scott (120) and Dorien Cano (175) also advanced to the finals of their respective brackets and took home second-place medals. “Considering we were not even scheduled to compete today, it went pretty well. Those who were able to make it, put on a good show,” Holterman said.
“We worked on some things this week that we'd struggled with and it was very nice to see kids implement what we'd worked on.” Alegarbes was one of the stars of the day, winning in dominant fashion in the quarterfinals and squeezing by in the semifinals before defeating Winlock’s Xavier Sancho-Carrill in the finals. Holterman said Alegarbes has improved in his mental mat.
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