TD gives highest honor to a former great

Simer’s wrestling singlet, along with a picture, will hang in a place of honor in the high school’s wrestling room.

Kramer was joined by Quincy Simer, Cole Davis and coach Jason Davis to offer words on what Simer meant to everyone he met.

“It was a privilege to coach him. He was unselfish and was the hardest worker on the team,” Kramer said. “It is hard to talk about him without getting emotional. He always gave more than what he got out of the sport. He will definitely be missed. It is good for these kids to see his uniform and picture in the wrestling room because they are going be inspired by that.”

On the mats, the Riverhawks faced Pendleton, and aside from six forfeits, Steven Preston and Glenn Breckterfield had impressive pinfall wins, and both Josiah Andersen and Jonathon Urenda each had one-point losses, as Pendleton won, 63-12, Tuesday.

Facing off against Matt Robertson in their 126-pound match, Preston logged a takedown and nearfall to lead 5-0 after the first round.

Midway through the second stanza, Preston, a freshman, put Robertson on his back and picked up the pin, at the one-minute mark.

TD head coach Paul Beasley liked the vast repertoire Preston displayed.

“It was probably one of the first matches he has had where he was very fluid,” Beasley said. “We call it chain wrestling. He was going from one move to the next. As coaches, that is really what we want the kids to do. He is tough in the wrestling room, he is a tough young man and he works extremely hard. This kid has a bright future.”

With TD trailing 30-6, Breckterfield prepared for his 152-pound bout against Mychael Pointer.

Breckterfield connected on a two-point takedown and later got Pointer for the pinfall win, at the 59-second mark of the first round.

“Glenn was a little bit out of it to start off with, but he figured it out,” Beasley said. “Again, you are not going to find a tougher kid. Glenn always competes, he is always ready to go and is one of our leaders. He is a quiet young man, but the kids love to watch him because he never gives up. He wrestles every second of every match and gives us everything he has.”

At 182 pounds, Urenda, the team’s lone senior, locked horns with Josh Mendoza in a match that lasted six minutes.

Urenda took a 2-0 lead though one round, and then dropped Mendoza for a takedown in the second round to go ahead, 4-1.

Late in the second round, Mendoza crept closer after a takedown of his own to run the score to 4-3 entering the final period.

Urenda tried to stave off Mendoza, but the Buckaroo wrestler hit on a takedown with four seconds left to secure the 5-4 decision.

“In my match, I learned that I need more endurance,” Urenda said. “I need to work on that part this way I can last longer and win more matches. Hopefully I can get better at that. I really want to go far this season.”

In addition to the six forfeits, Pendleton tacked on five pins and a decision.

Over the next week and a half, TD has two tournaments and two league duals upcoming.

It will be a grueling stretch, but one that Gio Avila is looking forward to.

“Our team is doing really good. I mean, we can work on some stuff, but other than that, we are looking pretty good,” Avila said. “There is always room for improvement, so we just have to show up at practice and work hard if we want to get better.”

As a third-year wrestler, Breckterfield sees improvement at all levels, from the first-year athletes to the seasoned veterans.

“We are a young team this year,” Breckterfield said. “We have only one senior and pretty much the rest of them are freshmen. I am very proud of these guys. They have a lot of potential. I can see that, after me, they are going to be really good.”