WARDEN – The Warden Cougars wrestling team competed in their first wrestling tournaments of the season, with the girls heading to Liberty High School for the Lady Lancer Invitational and the boys heading to the Ocosta Tournament at Ocosta High School. 

“I thought we had a really good weekend; it was the first time we took a trip like that, (a) six-hour bus ride,” said Cougars boys head coach Johnny Hernandez.  

The boys had nine scorers on the weekend with seven of those making top four placements, he said. Overall, the team finished third at Ocosta and were only four points away from taking first place.

Raylen Heredia, weighing in at 113 pounds, was the top placer for the team, taking second and Cougars senior Erik Camacho took third in his bracket. Samuel Aquilar and Luis Cisneros both took third and Jesus Arias took fourth. 

Some of the key standouts from the tournament came from Cougar wrestlers who had never been in a medal match before. Johnny Hernandez said Nikko Ruiz and Bryan Zaragoza had put in a lot of work in the offseason and found themselves in a medal match over the weekend, with Ruiz earning fourth and Zaragoza taking third. 

“Props to those guys for having a good weekend and finally getting a medal around their neck,” said Johnny Hernandez.  

Collin Cox was another standout wrestler at the tournament, wrestling as an 80-pound eighth grader against high school opponents. He said that Cox showed a relentless attitude and wrestled with skills similar to those of a senior. 

Johnny Hernandez said this tournament gave the team a real confidence boost as they proved what they can do as they return more wrestlers in the coming weeks. 

The Cougars girls had three girls place at the Lady Lancer Tournament, each earning fourth. Maddox Williams participated in the 115 class and scored 11 team points, going 2-2, Mirian Zuniga was in the 125-pound class, going 4-2 to earn 12 team points. Ashley Cruz competed in the 145-pound class and went 2-2, scoring 11 team points. 

Cougars girls head coach Valerie Hernandez said she was very proud of how the team performed in the tournament and is excited to see how the wrestlers will improve as they move forward. 

The Cougars girls are set to host a tournament at Warden High School, and the boys will be heading to Liberty High School for the Brice Williams Tournament, with both events taking place Saturday at 10 a.m. Both teams will then host a dual meet against Wahluke on Tuesday at 5 p.m.