EAST WENATCHEE — There are tournament teams and there are dual teams, and the Ephrata Tigers are hoping their second-place finish at the 13-team Paul Reason Memorial Cat Classic on Friday will springboard them into the Central Washington Athletic Conference dual schedule after the first of the year.

The Tigers put four in the finals and won all four, winning 22 of their 32 total victories by fall to finish second behind Ellensburg, which won with 228.5 points. It was a good wrap-up to the first half and a new beginning for a team which hosts Othello on Jan. 5 to open the CWAC season.

Four in the finals and four champions is a confidence builder for a young team wrestling in a conference that includes both the 2A state champion Toppenish and the 2A fourth-place team Othello.

“We’ve been putting kids in the finals of all the tournaments we’ve been going to so for. So for them not just to get there, but finish strong was important today,” Ephrata coach P.J. Anderson said. “We want that experience in the finals, late in the day when all eyes on you. It’s a little bit different than wrestling earlier in the day.

“I thought Cade Cox, being able to pull out of a poor start and wrestle well in the finals, was a nice to see because he’s a senior.”

Tiger 106-pounder Sammy Flores won his second championship in three days, with his sixth consecutive pin. Flores pinned Joshua Fernandez of Davis at 1:12 in the first period to start things off for the Tigers.

“It was a nice week. I just tried to stay aggressive,” said Flores, who also won the 106-pound championship in the Royal Rumble on Wednesday. “This gives me motivation to keep working to get better going into the (CWAC) season. The kid from Toppenish is good, so is Chris Melo at Othello. So I just have to keep working and getting better.”

Flores pinned Skyler Wierma of Cashmere, Axel Martinez from Cascade and Fernandez en route to winning the championship.

“Sammy is turning into quite the monster,” Anderson said. “He’s wrestling very tough right now.”

Cox won the first tournament championship of his four-year career with a 2-1 decision over T.J. Schneider of Ellensburg in one of the most competitive championship bouts of the day at 132.

“All we have is duals left on the schedule, so this was my last tournament. To win a championship today is important,” Cox said. “I could see he was getting tired, I knew I had to take a shot. He was up 1-0 and he wasn’t just going to give it to me. I’ll see him again at districts, so knowing what he does helps. Winning here shows I can hang with these guys and that I’m getting stronger and bigger.”

Cole Spencer wrestled with confidence, working a 5-1 decision over Cole Ladrini of Eisenhower to win the 170-pound title match.

“Winning means a lot. It’s pretty hard to do that at most of these tournaments,” said Spencer, who advanced to the finals with three pins. “Taking first in the tournament really helps a lot with my confidence. It shows what you’re capable of going into the (CWAC) season.

“Wrestling duals is different. It’s only one match instead of four. You prepare a lot for that one match and the six minutes and make it count.”

Drew Anderson won all three of his matches by fall, winning the 195-pound championship with a pin over Isaiah Johnston of Eastmont. He was solid throughout the day and is starting to hit his stride for the second half.

“Drew puts a game plan together. When he puts six minutes, and doesn’t go crazy, he’s pretty tough,” Anderson said. “During workouts, Drew and Cole drill on a different level than everybody else. I don’t think anybody in our room can hang with either one of them. They really help each other prepare for something like this. So it’s nice to see them win championships today.”

Team scores: 1, Ellensburg, 228.5. 2, Ephrata, 195. 3, Eastmont, 164. 4 (T), Eisenhower, West Valley, 122. 6, Connell 115.5. 7, Wenatchee, 99. 8, Cascade, 94. 9, Davis, 77. 10, Naches, 71. 11, Cashmere, 33. 12, Eastmont JV, 28. 13, Liberty Bell, 20. Ephrata champions 106 — Sammy Flores. 132 — Cade Cox. 170 — Cole Spencer. 195 — Drew Anderson Ephrata placers 113 — 3, Clay Johns. 182 — Mac Laird. 220 — 3, Eli Guevara. 285 — Efrain Bedolla