The Raider wrestlers did it again, producing two state champs and two second placers over the weekend, with the team taking third place in the state.

"Every single wrestler on the team won a match at state and scored valuable team points to allow us to get third," Head Coach Billy Monroe said. "When the season started, we were ranked as the seventh best team in the state, so I think we surprised quite a few other teams and coaches with how tough our kids ended up being."

At the state championship in Tacoma in the 2B division, Rodger Cate, wrestling at the 106-pound weight category, and Colton Jackson, wrestling at 120, were both crowned state champions.

Cate defeated Preston Neufeld of Reardan, pinning him 44 seconds into the third round to take the first-place spot. 

Jackson pinned Aaron Polito from Tonasket one minute and 56 seconds into the second round to secure his championship title. 

Wrestling at 170, Landon Krohn placed second, losing the top spot to Conan Northwind of Granger by pin, 1:12 into the second round.

Joseph Tynan, wrestling at 285, earned second after losing the top spot to Granger's Gage Cook, getting pinned 56 seconds into the match.

"State was an awesome experience this year for Lake Roosevelt athletes and coaches," Head Coach Billy Monroe said. "The kids really came on strong the last three weeks of the season, and it showed in our results. We ended up third as a team behind defending Team Champions Tonasket for the B classification and Defending Champions Granger from the A classification the year before.  ...  Most of the tournaments we attended this year were against bigger schools, A and 2A teams.  This is by design so that our wrestlers get tough competition all year in order to be ready for the state tournament. There were times when our top kids did not even place during the year but when it came time for State they were prepared to go out and battle every round."

"As a coach, this felt like a huge accomplishment to get a team trophy and coach an athlete to a state championship," Monroe continued. "Rodger Cate had a dominating year as a freshman; his record at the end of the year was 29-4. He never lost to anyone from our classification at 106 pounds.  He became LR's first-ever Freshman state champion.

Colton Jackson also won a state title to finish off his stellar career at Lake Roosevelt. He finished a runner up the two years prior and then was robbed of an opportunity last year due to Covid. Prior to winning on Saturday, Colton had lost five matches in a row to his opponent. We had been videoing his matches so we could put together a match plan that we felt Colton could follow to win, it ended up working out and Colton finished his career with a championship."

"I am also very proud of the rest of the athletes," Monroe said. "Landon Krohn and Joey Tynan wrestled their way to second place finish.  Joey had two awesome matches to put himself in the finals. Both matches came down to the third period where Joey's condition proved huge and he pulled away and dominated the final period in both matches. Unfortunately, in the finals he ran into the number-one ranked wrestler in the state for all classification in Granger's Gage Cook. Joey had been to state twice and twice he fell short of a medal, but not this year!  This year he got to stand on the podium! Landon Krohn also had a good tournament but ran into a very tough Granger wrestler in the finals.  I am excited to see Landon continue to improve and make a run at a state title next season."

"Teyten Flores, Christian Carson and Francis Louie all had amazing regional tournaments the week before in order to qualify for state," Monroe said. "They wrestled very tough this weekend, with each of them winning a match and securing team points.  The exciting part is they will all be back next season and I fully expect them to be state placers next year."

"I am very proud of this team," Monroe said. "They were an amazing group of kids to coach and spend time with.  Our program is in good hands with the ones coming back next season and Lake Roosevelt wrestling will continue to be one of the top programs in the state."

"I want to thank the Colville Tribes for the money they donated that helped pay for a state sweatshirt for each wrestler and after-state dinner at Red Robin to celebrate the season," Monroe continued. "The Lake Roosevelt Booster Club also donated funds that were used during the state send off to give each state qualifier a personalized T-shirt and water bottle filled with snacks to celebrate the awesome accomplishment of going to state. 

For the state championship at 120, Colton Jackson wrestles Aaron Polito from Tonasket to whom he'd lost five times in a row, but not this time. - Roger Harnack, Whitman County Gazette photo

"I also need to thank the local community for their support of Lake Roosevelt Schools and athletics. In a year where our levy failed, it is important to remember that experiences for our students and athletes like going to state at the Tacoma dome is not covered by state funding but provided to our kids by levy funds and taxpayers of our community. This includes hotel rooms, fuel for the buses to all our tournaments and food for the athletes to eat over the four days we are gone. Thank you, everyone, for your contributions, and know that the money provided by taxes does make a difference and gives our students an opportunity to showcase what an awesome community we have at Lake Roosevelt Schools. We should all be proud to be Raiders! I know myself and my wrestlers are thankful we are able to compete and represent the Lake Roosevelt community in athletics."