ROYAL CITY — Louden Leenhouts, Nathan Sandoval and Payton Woods each earned third-place finishes to lead the Ephrata boys wrestling team to a fourth-place showing at the Royal Boys Christmas Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 27.

The Tigers scored 130 points in the 29-team field. Cashmere won the team title with 199.5 points, followed by Tonasket (176) and host Royal (175).

Leenhouts went 5-1 at 106 pounds, winning five matches by fall. He opened with a pin at 42 seconds, then ran into Tonasket's Jake Bolich (the eventual runner-up) and dropped a 16-1 technical fall in the third period. Leenhouts responded by rattling off four straight wins, ending the run with a 10-0 victory over Cle Elum's Adam Beedle in the third-place match, finishing with a pin 48 seconds into the second period.

Sandoval (120) finished 4-1, picking up three falls and a decision. He pinned his first two opponents before falling 10-2 by major decision to Royal's Dennis Hernandez. Sandoval bounced back with a 5-0 decision in his fourth match, then closed out the tournament with a dominant third-place finish against Selah's Fabian Lopez. Sandoval recorded two takedowns and two nearfalls before sealing the round with a pin at 3:29.

Woods went 4-1 at 215 pounds. After a first-round bye, he pinned his next two opponents in the first period. In his third match of the day, Woods fell 10-5 by decision to Quincy's Alejandro Barajas in the third period, scoring on two escapes and a takedown. Woods rebounded in the third-place match against Royal's Mario De La Rosa, pulling away in the third period with an escape, takedown and nearfall to secure an 8-0 major decision.

Several other Tigers posted winning records on the day. Noah Castillo went 3-1 at 150 pounds. Riley Richards (144), Carter Garcia (157), Colt Staples (165) and Austin Smith (175) each finished 3-2.

Also competing for Ephrata were Zxander Williams (138, 2-2), Mike Ramirez (132, 2-2), Daron Hernandez (285, 2-2), Danny Wurl (190, 1-1), Caleb Schooler (113, 0-2) and Noah Hatten (126, 0-2).

The Tigers (1-2) return to action Tuesday, Jan 6, when they host Othello at 7 p.m. The Huskies sit third in Central Washington Athletic Conference standings at 2-1, with wins over Ellensburg and Grandview and a loss to league-leading Toppenish, ranked second among state Class 2A programs by Washington Wrestling Network.

Editor's note: Match results compiled from FloWrestling.org.