CHS Wrestling

They earned their berths to district by finishing in the top four of their weight classes at last Saturday's Trico League Championships in La Center.

In addition, junior David Simmons and sophomore Cameron Mace qualified as alternates based on their fifth-place finishes at the league meet.

"This is the largest group I've had qualify for regionals," said Bruins Coach Matt Cox, now in his fourth year as the head of CHS's wrestling program. CHS sent three wrestlers to district in 1999.

Mace and Trosper, who watched from the sidelines last year as CHS senior heavyweight Kenny Bucher wrestled his way to state, placed third and fourth in the 275-pound class.

They faced each other in the consolation final, with Mace pinning his teammate one minute into the match.

Mace finished the meet with a 3-1 record. His only loss came in a semifinal match against Bryan Bruner of Ridgefield.

Trosper went 2-2, losing to Ridgefield's Jim Rushing, who defeated Bruner in the championship match.

Both Mace and Trosper started out by pinning their first opponents, Ben Norton and Casey Carroll of La Center, in the first round.

Strickland placed fourth at 135 pounds with a 2-2 record. He fell to Judah Rister of Castle Rock with 1:53 gone in their third-place match.

He opened with a 6-4 decision over Ridgefield's Ethan Boyles, then lost on a second-round fall to eventual champion Matt Smith of Ridgefield in his second match.

But he rebounded with a 4-3 decision against Ryan Zinkland of La Center, which assured him of a medal and berth to district.

Ingram didn't win either of his matches in the 125-pound class -- he lost both on second-round falls -- yet still qualified for district because his division only had four contestants.

Simmons, CHS's entrant at 140 pounds, won his opening match with a pin at the 1:17 mark of the first round.

But he lost his second match by a 14-6 major decision to Hector Barragan of Woodland, then was edged 5-4 by Castle Rock's Ben Harvey in a match that sent the winner to the consolation final.

Simmons finished strong, however, pinning Ridgefield's Clay Giffin to nail down fifth place and an alternate's position.

Mace garnered alternate status by ousting teammate and classmate Dana Hathaway in the fifth-place match for 215-pounders.

Also competing for CHS but failing to advance to district were senior Jorge Barajas and freshman Hayden Hathaway (152), and junior Alex Salisbury (160).

Barajas lost his first match, 11-10, to eventual tournament runnerup Aaron Cash of Woodland, then was eliminated 7-3 by Castle Rock's Cole Inman.

Hathaway and Salisbury were knocked out of action after losing their first two matches.

Columbia finished the meet with 72 points, good for fifth place.

Ridgefield, with six league championships in 14 weight classes, beat out La Center, 282-255, for the team title.

Castle Rock placed third with 226 points, followed by Woodland (149.5).