Riverhawk wrestling places four at Don York

Added to Dodge’s triumph, Steven Preston claimed third place Karen Villa ended up fourth in the girls division, and Taylor Morehouse went 4-3 to preserve sixth place.

“I am super-proud of all these kids and their performances in this last tournament,” TD assistant coach Ryan Manciu said. “They are improving each and every day as we enter into the heart of our wrestling season and they are working towards our district meet.”

Over the weekend, Dodge reeled off five wins, four by pinfall, and the title-clincher was a major decision.

The junior captured first-round pins against Newberg’s William Cruz Villanon (1:15) and Gladstone’s Chael Williams (1:50) for a quarterfinal berth.

In that match with St. Helens’ Ryan Burri, Dodge needed 1:26 to drop the hammer down for a pin and a semifinal date versus Southridge’s Anthony Peralez.

Just a tad past a minute, Dodge used a pin on Peralez at 1:17 of the opening round.

With a second consecutive tournament win up for grabs, Dodge had to deal with Jake Reser, of Tualatin, who entered the match with a 15-3 record.

Dodge out-maneuvered Reser to the tune of a 20-11 major decision to get his top spot.

Also grappling in the 170-pound bracket and making his season debut was Preston, and he went 5-1, all by pin, and scored 25 team points for third place.

Preston dialed up back-to-back first-round pins over McNary’s Jesus Saldivar (1:48) and Hood River Valley’s Timothy Fletcher (1:03), and then posted a 15-3 major decision versus Newberg’s Hayden Hampton in the quarterfinals.

Preston lost by pin in his semifinal bout with Tualatin’s Reser at 1:40, but grabbed two consecutive pinfall wins in the consolation bracket against Gladstone’s Williams (4:29) and HRV’s Timothy Fletcher (0:34) to earn third place.

Taking fourth place after a solid 1-2 record at the 125-pound girls classification was Villa, as she tallied a quarterfinal win against Sunset’s Jennifer Mitlehner (1:26) for her first win of the year.

Villa, however, lost her next two matches, both by first-round pin, to Forest Grove’s Jasmin Soc-Lopez (1:13) and Milwaukie’s Jaden South (1:32).

Morehouse had a busy seven-match slate in Portland and scored 14 team points with his sixth-place run at 182 pounds.

Following an opening-round pinfall loss to Brodey Kitzmiller (Gladstone) at the 3:32 mark of the second round, Morehouse won four matches in a row in the consolation rounds.

Morehouse had a 6-1 decision against Chace Coopersmith (Putnam), and reeled off first-round pins versus Tualatin’s Isaias Manzo (0:45) and St. Helens’ Gannon Carter (1:52).

In his fifth match, Morehouse pinned Tualatin’s Jacob Helton in the second round (3:31) to vault into the consolation semifinals. Morehouse lost to Bailey Sparks (Centennial) by a 17-0 technical fall at the 4:58 mark of the third round and lost his fifth-and-sixth-place showdown with Maverick Geller (Hood River Valley) in a close 11-10 decision.

Zak Tackett (8-6 record) wrestled at 113 pounds and four wins, three by pin, with his first pinfall victory at the 17-second mark of the first round opposite Nividh Singh (Sunset).

After losing his next match, Tackett rebounded for a 15-0 technical fall versus Diego Rios (Sandy), tallied a second-round pin of Hayden McCormick (Sandy) and dropped Manzo (McNary) at 1:59 of the first round.

Tackett had his tournament cut short in his next bout with Southridge’s Nicolas Garza (a 5-2 decision).

As a 120-pounder, Ian Preston went 2-2 in his first varsity tournament with both victories coming in the first round.

After a bye, Ian Preston pinned Anh Dylan Huynh (Newberg) at 1:54, but lost his quarterfinal match via pinfall to Cleveland’s Elija Fishler (0:57).

The promising freshman then worked a pin on Eoan Sharabarin (McNary) in the first round at the 1:56 mark and wound up losing by pin in 44 seconds against Grady Burrows (McNary).

In the 160-pound class, Aiden Marx alternated wins and losses in four matches, but came out strong on Friday with a 42-second pin of Jose Gorgoni-Flores (Tualatin).

Marx was pinned by Chris Lynch (Clackamas) in 53 seconds of the opening round, but pinned Liberty’s Carter Basick at 48 seconds of the first round, before dropping an 11-1 major decision versus Marshall Rodenbeck (Wilsonville).

Another girls participant, Elejah Sutton-Lott, had her first foray on the mats and answered with two wins and six team points, which the Lady Hawk duo 19 points for 18th place in the 22-team standings.

Sutton-Lott (130 pounds) won by fall over Centennial’s Arianna Fagin (56 seconds), lost by pin to Forest Grove’s Tamrie Overturf (1:07) and defeated Gloria Kitanga, of Clackamas by way of major decision (14-4).

In her last match, Sutton-Lott suffered a pinfall loss versus Madelyn Russell, out of Sunset (1:49).

“Our girls continue to improve,” Beasley said. “Karen placed again in only her second tournament and Elejah continues to give her best efforts and showed her toughness having drawn a killer bracket. It was clear to all, Ryan and I, that Karen and Elejah have been working hard as practice partners, making each other better every day.”

Wrestling at 170 pounds, freshman Marquies Sagapolutele (3-5 overall record) went 1-2, as he won his first match by third-round pin against James McDonald (Franklin) at 5:58.

Sagapolutele then lost via pin to Putnam’s Marc Jheryll Gutierrez (2:55) and Tyler Sims, of Clackamas (1:23).

Quinn Wilson (5-5 record) won by a 9-7 decision over Michael Castagnola (Sandy) in his first 160-pound slugfest, but then posted two straight losses to Burgess Myers (Reynolds) at 1:05 and Owen Lundgren (Putnam), an 8-5 decision.

Rounding out the team, Angel Oregon (120 pounds), Conor Blair (126), Austin Music (145), Aaron Pyles (160), Ophath Silaphath (182) and Miguel Torres (220) each went 0-2 in their two tourney matches.

Riverhawk head coach Paul Beasley said he was impressed and proud of his team for the way they handled wrestling in one of the toughest facilities in the state.

TD, in the 5A ranks, totaled 102.5 points for 14th place in the 21-team field, and wound up finishing ahead of seven other 6A programs.

“Our season is starting to take shape as we head into January,” Beasley said. “A number of our younger wrestlers had a productive and successful weekend and are understanding what a grind the season is, and our upperclassmen are getting to weight. Our wrestlers continue to compete in the classroom as well and cement themselves as well-rounded student-athletes.”

Up next, the Hawks head out to Forest Grove for Bob Beisell Invitational starting at 10 a.m. Saturday.