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Raider wrestlers grappled in three contests last week -- two at home, against Warden Dec. 10 and a mix and match tournament Dec. 12 -- then at the Connell Invitational tourney Dec. 14, where the Raiders were the only B school present.

In the dual against Warden, only nine Raiders wrestled. LR had to forfeit five matches to the Cougars, leading to the Warden win, 42-17.

LR's points came from wins by Kodie Horn and Octavio Alejandre. Horn (152 pounds) fought hard in his match to come away with a win. Alejandre (285) pinned his opponent in a match that showed his improved wrestling knowledge and increased physical strength.

In the mixer Dec. 12, LR faced off against Chelan, Brewster, Pateros, Wilbur-Creston-Keller, and Oroville at home on two mats.Chelan has a very strong team and picked up many wins.

Horn snatched a win from Chelan with a dominating first-round performance.

James Monaghan (126) and Oscar Pakootas (132) picked up wins through solid effort and constant perseverance in their matches. Gabe Moses (138), in his first outing of the season, picked up two wins, impressing coaches with his scrappy style.

Coltin Williams' Chelan opponent choked him and was warned by the official. Later in the same match, the Chelan wrestler picked up Williams (126) and slammed him with force into the mat. The match was paused as the coaches looked over Williams to ascertain whether to continue. Williams said he would continue and finished the match. In his next match of the night, Williams recorded a win.

Back in wrestling after a two-year absence, Teddy Sharr is catching up fast, Coach Steve Hood said. "Teddy wrestled tough against tough competition at the mixer and is doing well on the mat," Hood said. "He is listening to what we as coaches are telling him and with more practice he will continue to improve in matches."

The showcase of the night was Octavio Alejandre's match against two-time state champ Asa Schwartz of Chelan. "At the start of the week, Octavio asked if he could wrestle Schwartz," Hood said. "He really wanted to challenge him."

Early on it looked like Schwartz would win by pin, but Alejandre would not give up, fighting back to last all three rounds. The action was intense with many good moves by both wrestlers. At one point Alejandre was thrown from the ring and landed on the floor of Gailord Nelson Gym. Alejandre lost 8-1, but Hood was proud of how Alejandre wrestled and kept fighting.

Alexia Hanway won all her matches at the mixer. Hanway won by technical fall the two Pateros girl wrestlers she faced. In a tech fall, a wrestler is up by 15 points, the match ends automatically and is scored like a pin. The two Pateros girls were not in her weight class of 112 pounds; instead they were at 124 and 100 pounds.

At Connell, the Raiders finished sixth out of a field of 14 schools where LR was the only B school present.

James Monaghan dropped from 126 to 120 and took third in his new weight class. Williams fought back from an early setback to finish sixth at 126. Pakootas won his way to the championship match for 132 and faced off against a state contender. Pakootas did not give up but took second.

Scott Abrahamson (132) picked up his first win of the season at Connell. Abrahamson is impressing the coaches as in one of his matches he wrestled the eventual tourney champ. Abrahamson lost but fought hard in a good match. Gabe Moses went 2-2 on the day and is continuing to improve. Josh Jim placed fourth at 145, showing good improvement in his skills and his ability to overcome adversity.

Horn finished second at 152 after facing a defending state champ. In the first round Horn used his skills to take the lead, but the state champ came back from the deficit to defeat Horn, who, Hood said, will learn from that championship match for his next opponent.

Alejandre defeated all comers and was the tourney champion at 285 at Connell. This was the first time Alejandre won a tourney during a high school season. Hanway finished third at 112 after defeating Avacado of Pasco in the third/fourth match.

This week, the Raiders wrestle in only two contests. Last night at Gailord Nelson Gym, the Raiders took on Omak in a dual meet. LR won the dual last year with Omak. The Raiders faced some of Omak's wrestlers in the Okanogan Jamboree.

Now the wrestlers are preparing for the Cashmere Tourney on Saturday at Cashmere High School, starting at 10 a.m. LR will be facing some of the better 1A teams in the state at Cashmere, including Quincy and Mt. Baker.