Falls in season at Clark County girls wrestling meet

Pins were the name of the game for girl grapplers at the Norm Friehauf Clark County Wrestling Championships on Saturday.

Just one of the 14 championship matches at Skyview High School went the distance, as some of the most talented wrestlers in the state showed how quickly they can work.

Ridgefield sophomore Tyla Engstrom, the state’s 12th-ranked 110-pounder, earned one of the most emotional victories of her young career. She picked up a second-round fall against three-time Clark County champion Eliana Duff of Fort Vancouver, before celebrating with hugs and tears with her teammates and coaches.

“I’ve been going through a lot of hard stuff recently,” Engstrom said. “Wrestling is everything for me and I want to go to state so bad. This win means everything to me.”

Her teammate, Uruwa Abe, also earned a fall over Kelso’s Presley Lindeman. It serves as the perfect stepping stone for the freshman and the state’s ninth-ranked 105-pounder.

“It’s my first time doing high-school wrestling and I just want to push myself to try to be a Clark County placer every year,” Abe said. “I just want to commit to it.”

The usual faces and top-ranked wrestlers — Union’s Riley Aamold (130) and Hudson’s Bay’s Allison Blaine (135) — each took less than 35 seconds to end their title bouts. But they weren’t alone with first-round pins. Seven title bouts were finished in the first round.

Columbia River’s Dayzie Barragan (100 pounds), Hudson’s Bay’s Freydis Metzgar (115), Union’s Alejandra Ayers (125), Mountain View’s Katelyn Cera (170) and Skyview’s Jaelyn Sayler (235) joined the ranks of first-round winners.

“This was definitely something on my list I wanted to check off,” said Ayers, a fifth-ranked junior.

While Washougal’s Aleksi Donahue had to wait a little longer, the 120-pound senior finished Kelso’s Mayci Bloomfeldt in 3:24 to win her the Clark County crown. But for her, it was the team title that meant more.

The Panthers won for the ninth time in 11 years and picked up their second consecutive Clark County Championship. They finished with 155.5 points to top Kelso (128) and Union (125).

“It’s great to set it up for our upcoming wrestlers,” Donahue said. “It just gives all the new girls a great confidence that we can actually do it.”

Other champions included Union’s Envee Sakhoueun-Hem (140 pounds) and Neveah Cassidy (155), Camas’ Autumn Aho (190) and Hudson’s Bay’s Liz Stump (145), who was the lone victor by decision.

And what a match Stump’s was. There was a flurry of scoring late as Skyview’s Rion Hoots and Stump scrambled, but it ended in a 14-14 tie at the end of six minutes. Stump got the takedown quickly into the sudden-victory overtime period.

“I was a little frustrated, honestly. … A little excited, though,” Stump said of the wait to for officials and coaches to sort out the final 20 seconds of scoring. “Pretty sure this my first-ever first place in wrestling so it means a lot.”

Clark County Championships

At Skyview HS

Team scores: Washougal 155.5, Kelso 128, Union 125, Skyview 98, Hudson’s Bay 78, Prairie 75, Camas 68, Mountain View 57, Fort Vancouver 46, Ridgefield 46, Columbia River 23.

Championship matches

100 — Dayzie Barragan (CR) p. Caitlyn Phan (C), 1:21; 105 — Uruwa Abe (R) p. Presley Lindeman (K), 1:42; 110 — Tyla Engstrom (R) p. Eliana Duff (FV), 3:19; 115 — Freydis Metzgar (HB) p. Ava Weatherl (C), 1:21; 120 — Aleksi Donahue (W) p. Mayci Bloomfeldt (K), 3:24; 125 — Alejandra Ayers (U) p. Melina Aguilar (W) 1:01; 130 — Riley Aamold (U) p. Kyla Shoddy (K), 0:26; 135 — Allison Blaine (HB) p. Ashley Garrison (W), 0:32; 140 — Envee Sakhoueun-Hem (U) p. Yana Paskar (P), 3:08; 145 — Liz Stump (HB) d. Rion Hoots (S), OT 16-14; 155 — Nevaeh Cassidy (U) p. Jordan Mann (S), 5:05; 170 — Katelyn Cera (MV) p. Leighann Linge (P), 1:23; 190 — Autumn Aho (C) p. Indra Gutierrez-Gaitan (MV), 3:41; 235 — Jaelyn Sayler (S) p. Regan Schlaefli (P), 0:48.

Third-place matches

100 — Kayla Pierce (U) d. Ava Golemo (S), 6-5; 105 — Natalie Logan (W) d. Kendal Shulte (MV), 9-5; 110 — Ellie Freund p. Mickahala Lowery (W), 4:31; 115 — Madeline Pritchard (S) p. Violet Hancock (W); 120 — Lillian Mucha (W) p. Lorena Rojas (FV), 1:46; 125 — Kennedy Wilcox (P) p. Jeydalyn Alonso (S), 1:25; 130 — Joselyn Ortiz (W) p. Elliana Sabatini (C), 3:31; 135 — Hannah Lew (U) p. Khloe Weitman (K), 1:53; 140 — Cayla Gutenberger (K) p. Daniella Jensen (W), 2:22; 145 — Allysea Tenison (K) p. Emma Ramey (K), 0:58; 155 — Lacey Klopman (W) p. Natalia Juarez-Trejo (S), 2:31; 170 — Tara Liebe (K) p. Rhionnon Edson (S), 0:27; 190 — Vanessa Brooks (W) p. Arlyn Cassi (K), 0:36; 235 — Abigail Mendiola (FV) p. Kabiah Blain (W), 1:32.