Wrestling: Tiger grapplers take 2nd at Alhambra

With two weeks remaining until the Northern 4A Regional Championships wrestling tournament, the Douglas High wrestling team seems to be hitting its stride at the right time.

Douglas followed an strong eight-medal performance at last week's Clayton Valley Invitational with a second-place finish at Alhambra's Lawrence Miller Invitational over the weekend.

The Tigers had 12 wrestlers place at the tournament, highlighted by 135-pounder Ryan Olsen, who brought home the tournament championship in his weight class and was named the the middleweights most outstanding wrestler.

He had a pin in 4:45 over Mark Gargalakis from Pittsburgh High School in the finals and went 4-0 on the day with three pins and a technical fall.

The Spates brothers, Dillon (103) and Cody (140), took first-place finishes in their respective weight classes as well.

Dillon Spates went 4-0 with two pins, one of which was the fastest of the tournament (14 seconds).

In the final, the 103-pound freshman won decisively over Andres Torres from Windsor High School 12-3.

In the 140-pound final, Cody Spates was paired against teammate Pat Theilan, a non-scoring wrestler for Douglas who battled his way unseeded with two pins and a decision to reach the final. Spates won by fall at 3:39.

Wes Peterson (112), Timmy Souza (119) and Nico Barker (130) all competed in the finals as well.

Peterson was runner-up to Nick Smith of Pittsburgh, Souza was second behind Cody Howe of Windsor and Barker received a silver medal after falling to Aaron Westphal from Alhambra.

Douglas also got a third-place showing from Eddie Kollar at 125, a fifth-place from CJ Wynar at 145 and a pair of seventh-place finishes from Joe McDonald (135) and Justin Freeman (145).

Javier Trujillo took eighth at 160.

Douglas finished just behind California High School in the team standings, losing 185.5 to 183.5.

Douglas travels to Wooster tonight for their final league dual.

The Tigers will also compete in one final tuneup this weekend, having picked up the Sparks Invitational late in the season.

The regional championships are Feb. 1 and 2 at Hug and the state tournament will be Feb. 9 at Cimarron Memorial in Las Vegas.