ELLENSBURG — The Ephrata boys wrestling team placed sixth at Ellensburg High School’s Ray Westberg Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 17, led by Colt Staples, who pinned four opponents enroute to the individual title at 165 pounds.

Hermiston, Oregon dominated the 15-team field with 244.5 points. Ellensburg (163.5) and West Valley of Spokane (137.5) rounded out the top three while the Tigers scored 115 team points.

Staples powered through his weight bracket, pinning all four opponents in less than three minutes. He started with a first-period pin over Wapato's Jayson Burgos before finishing off Goldendale, West Valley and Quincy opponents to claim the title.

The Tigers' Louden Leenhouts collected bronze at 106 pounds with a 4-1 record. A technical fall loss to Hermiston's Brayden Harrison in his third match bumped Leenhouts to the consolation bracket. But he responded in the next round by scoring a major decision that included five takedowns and a reversal. Leenhouts then finished off the tourney and secured third place with a 6-3 overtime decision against Drayson Lathim, also of Hermiston.

Three Tigers earned fourth-place finishes: Nathan Sandoval (120), Mike Ramirez (126) and Payton Woods (215). 

Sandoval went 4-2, gutting out a 10-7 sudden victory decision over Bellingham's Jacob McCarty. Ramirez also finished 4-2, picking up wins with a two pins and a 1-0 decision after an escape over Selah's Valentino Recio. 

Woods produced back-to-back pins before a 7-2 decision loss to Cheney's Wyatt Wells sent him to the consolation bracket. In the medal round, Woods lost a 10-3 third-period decision to Quincy's Alejandro Barajas of Quincy and finished 3-2 on the day.

Ephrata's other tournament competitors included Riley Richards (144) 2-2, Carter Garcia (157) 2-2, Austin Smith (175) 1-2, Isaac Barajas (138) 1-2, Kylan Lus (132) 1-2, Daron Hernandez (285) 1-2, Caleb Schooler (113) 0-2, and Mike Schnegelberger (190) 0-2.

Selah 38, Ephrata 34

SELAH — Earlier in the week, the Tigers came up short in a close Central Washington Athletic Conference dual at Selah, falling 38-34. The narrow loss dropped the Tigers to 1-4 in league standings.

Ephrata took five of 12 bouts in the match. At 165, Staples pinned Selah’s Matthew Galloway in two minutes after taking a 7-0 lead. At 215, Woods built a 13-0 advantage in just 2:40 before pinning the Vikings' Eduardo Lamas.

Also for the Tigers, Leenhouts added a first-period fall at 106 over Gunner Goetz, Ramirez cruised to a 15-4 major decision at 132 over Owen Hayes, and Romeo Alvarez (126) and Daron Hernandez (285) both added forfeit wins.

Ephrata hosts No. 2-ranked Toppenish this Thursday, Jan. 22, for Senior Night. The Wildcats come in at 4-0 in CWAC play. First match is set for 7 p.m.