Cascade wrestlers head to Districts aiming for the District title

The Cascade Kodiak wrestling team is ready for Districts. After sweeping a double dual with Cashmere and Omak on Jan. 23, the Kodiaks head to Districts as the second place team in the Caribou Trail League behind Chelan.
Cascade beat Cashmere 50-27 and Omak 50-12. Both teams were missing wrestlers in certain weight classes, so Cascade had a few forfeits. The Kodiaks were also missing a couple wrestlers who were sitting out with injuries.
“The whole idea was to win the matches we wrestled. In this case, Omak only won one match. I was happy with that,” said Cascade Head Coach Jesus Sandoval.
Sandoval said the kids are looking good for the District Tournament, which is on Saturday at Omak High School.
“I’m seeing huge improvement from D’Andre Vasquez (145). He has come a long ways. Looking really solid. We have a few injuries right now. Last match, I did not wrestle Daniel Sandoval (126) and Adian Arceo (138). They have injuries, so hopefully they can be at 100 percent for Districts. The idea right now to get everyone at their best for postseason,” Sandoval said.
It’s good to finish in second place in the CTL, he said, but he’s not satisfied.
“Our whole goal this year was to take league. Last year, we were really close. We were second last year as well,” Sandoval said. “Maybe I’m just too strict with myself, but I’m not happy to be second. We were missing a few guys in the weight classes, so that definitely hurt us. It would have a been a different story if we had every weight class then we could’ve competed against Chelan.”
Sandoval is hoping to qualify 10 wrestlers for the finals at Districts.
“Right now, we have a couple injuries, so hopefully those guys can get healthy,” Sandoval said. “We’re going to go to the District Tournament to fight for the district title. It’s going to be against Chelan.”
The top three wrestlers in each weight class advance to Regionals. The Regionals have been tough on CTL wrestlers trying to make it to state. In Regionals, the CTL must square off against the powerhouse NEA League.
“Regionals is really tough. This is the toughest region in the whole state for 1A. There are teams like Deer Park, Colville, Freeman, Lakeside, Chewelah, Medical Lake. Five of those teams are ranked in the top 10 in state. It’s tough, but we have to be able to compete against those guys,” Sandoval said.
Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.