Cascade wrestlers finished second at Districts

The Cascade Kodiak wrestling team is a team on the rise. After a second place finish in the regular season in the Caribou Trail League, the Kodaiks finished second in the District Tournament last weekend in Omak.
“It was a good tournament for us. We had 10 guys in the finals. I was hoping for about nine, so it was nice to have that extra one in there,” said Jesus Sandoval, Cascade head coach.
Cascade had four district champions, Juan Carlos Martinez at 106, Danny Sandoval at 126, Daniel Claros at 145 and Arthur Drake at heavyweight. The Kodiaks had six wrestlers place second, Axel Martinez at 120, Austin Curry at 132, Aiden Eseo at 138, D’Andre Vasquez at 145, Connor Head at 160 and Esai Claros at 182. Octavio Ramirez finished fourth at 152.
Chelan won the tournament with 285 points. Cascade was second with 216, Cashmere was third with 130, Omak was fourth with 91 and Okanogan 5th with 64.
“Overall, it was a good day. We came in second to Chelan. Their numbers definitely helped on that,” Sandoval said. “Chelan had two guys in every weight class. In 170, there were only wrestlers from Chelan in that bracket.”
Several Cascade wrestlers lost to a Goat in the finals, Axel Martinez, Curry, Eseo, Head and Esai Claros. Kodiaks Daniel Claros and D’Andre Vasquez wrestled in the finals at 145.
So, 10 wrestlers advance to regionals at Medical Lake on Saturday. Octavio Ramirez is an alternate at 152. Sandoval said it will tough challenge to get to state out of this region.
“Our region is definitely the toughest region in 1A. We have some really tough teams on the NEA (Northeast A League) side. It’s going to be really tough to move onto State. I’m hoping we can have a few guys moving onto State,” Sandoval said.
Sandoval feels their best chance to make State will be at 106, 126, 145 and heavyweight.
“If everything goes the way I’m hoping, we should have a few guys at state,” he said. “ Every year is really tough. They have almost a state champion in every bracket. They are tough everywhere. This is just a chance for improvement.”
The top four wrestlers in each weight class advance to State. At Districts, Cascade received sportsmanship award and Sandoval was named coach of the year in the CTL.  
Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.