Warriors finish 8-3 at AAU wrestling tournament

By Matt Crownover, Lebanon Express writer

Fifteen members of the Lebanon High School wrestling team completed a successful AAU tournament June 19-21 at Spanish Springs High School in Sparks, Nev.

The 16-team tournament featured four teams from the Reno, Nev., area, two from Oregon (including Lebanon and West Albany) and the rest from California.

The Warriors went 8-3. West Albany was 6-6.

After winning its first two matches, Lebanon lost three in a row, then regrouped and finished with six consecutive wins.

Each team match had 10 individual weight classes, so Lebanon coach Michael Cox was rotating his wrestlers in and out to get everyone a chance to participate.

"I think if we weren't rotating the guys, we would have had a good chance at winning," Cox said. "But it was more important to get the experience than to win the tournament."

Dalton Urrutia, who will be going into his senior season next school year, won eight of his nine matches to lead the Warriors.

Urrutia wrestled in the 145-pound weight class.

Dalton's brother Garrett, a sophomore next year, went 6-4 in the 135-pound weight class and Craig Trask, a senior next year, went 5-3 in the 145-pound weight class.

Also finishing with impressive individual records were Tance Privratsky, who went 5-2 at 190 pounds, Josh Casterline, who won five of six matches at 215 pounds and Andrew Vandetta, who went 4-2 in the heavyweight division.

"I was very pleasantly surprised with how well we competed because it was a really tough tournament," Cox said.

Cox said he thinks the tournament will be beneficial heading into next wrestling season.

"The main thing that we wanted to get out of it was to get more experience and I'm hoping that it will just give them that much more confidence next year," he said.

Eight Lebanon wrestlers qualified for the state tournament last year and the Warriors finished 11th out of 37 teams.

On June 21, the tournament concluded with an individual tournament.

Garrett Urrutia was the lone Lebanon wrestler to make the top four in his weight class by winning four matches at 135 pounds.

The team stayed in a nearby hotel and spent the time away from the mat doing various activities.

"The kids had a lot of fun," Cox said.