Local wrestlers clinch medals

The Washougal High School girls wrestling team finished in fourth place at the Kelso Invitational Saturday.

Abby Lees captured first place in the 32-man 170-pound bracket. The Washougal sophomore defeated Stadium’s Latina Tauaese 6-0 to get to the finals. Lees then pinned Keanna Vermillion, of Rainier, for the championship medal.

Yaneli Martinez took third place for the Panthers at 105 pounds. The junior pinned Kasy Ozuna, of Warden, to get to the consolation finals. Martinez defeated Prairie’s Quinn O’Bryant for third place by injury default.

Morgan Ratcliff finished in fourth place for Washougal at 135 pounds. The sophomore pinned two opponents and earned a 6-4 victory to advance to the consolation finals. Belan Simpson beat Ratcliff 7-3 for third place.

Washougal’s Bailee Wright pinned Frankin Pierce’s Alexis Tietz for fifth place at 120 pounds. Hannah Eakins earned sixth place for the Panthers at 140 pounds.

The Washougal boys wrestlers rose to third place at the 10-team Grandview Invitational Saturday. Five Panthers reached the championship round, but none of them could claim that elusive final victory.

Zach Oster, Tony Maniscalco, Taylor Leifsen, AJ Christianson and Garrett Duey settled for second place. Jacob Brown bounced back from a loss in the semifinals by winning his last two matches for third place. Urich Reyes and John Grable both finished in fourth place.

Camas freshman Rylan Thompson snagged a second place medal at the Bearcat Invitational Saturday, in Chehalis. He beat Bonney Lake’s Jordan Cozzi 9-7 in overtime and bested W.F. West’s Brandon Davis 10-9 to get to the championship round. Tillamook’s Justin Coon pinned Thompson in the second round of the finals.

Bryant Elliott, Dylan Ingram and Triston Groth grabbed third-place medals for the Papermakers. Max Grimes, Cole Becker and Luke Pipkin finished with fifth-place medals.

Camas hosts Heritage and Washougal welcomes Mark Morris and Ridgefield to town Wednesday. Both events start at 6 p.m.

The Clark County boys and girls tournaments are Friday and Saturday, at Prairie High School.