Josh Lofthus, Lee Leavell and Justin Dellinger watch as teammate Keegan McCormick wrestles Raleigh Beckstrom, a senior from Reardon High School, at the Royal Tournament on Tuesday, Dec. 29 in the 171 pound weight class. McCormick won the match despite Bec

ROYAL CITY – The Tonasket wrestling team placed sixth out of 18 teams at the annual Royal Wrestling Tournament on Tuesday, Dec. 29.

“It was a long day, with wrestling starting at 10 a.m. and the last finals match concluding at 9:30 p.m. that night,” Dave Mitchell, head coach, said. “Most of the guys who didn’t place were able to win a match and score us some team points, which helped our team score.”

Tonasket had three wrestlers reach the finals. Junior Keegan McCormick became the 171 pound weight class champion while junior Dustin Silverthorn finished second in the 152 pound weight class and senior Andrew Grillo finished second in the 160 pound weight class. Mitchell said junior Peter Williams lost just one match during the day to finish in fourth in the 145 pound weight class.

Taking sixth place were freshman Dalton Wahl at 119 pounds, junior Riley Buzzard at 135 pounds and junior Lee Leavell at 140 pounds. Also wrestling for the Tigers were sophomore Jared Stedtfeld at 103 pounds, sophomore Ryker Marchand at 112 pounds, junior Josh Lofthus at 215 pounds and junior Justin Dellinger at 285 pounds.

Cashmere High School finished the day in first place with 167 points while Reardon finished in second with 157, Warden in third with 122, Granger in fourth with 113 and Riverside in fifth with 110.5. Tonasket’s team score for sixth place was 104.5 and the Tigers finished ahead of Castle Rock, Chelan, Royal, Connell, Othello, Newport, Kamaikin, Kiona Benton, Goldendale, Liberty Bell, Wahluke and Okanogan.

The Tigers next wrestle in Omak on Thursday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. and at the Warden Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 9.