KIONA-BENTON BEARS

Mid-Season Report

The Bears have had a rough first half of the season. They are 0-3 in duals and have finished as low as 11th in two tournaments. However, the season has had some bright spots. The Bears finished 3rd in their own Ki-Be Invite and 2nd at the Tonasket Apple Pie Invite. They have captured 8 individual championships this year: 4-Sergio Avila, 2-Josh Corke, 1-Jesse DeLaPena, 1-Josh Corriel.

The returning state vets have given a good showing. Sergio is 14-2 and has defeated every top CWAC contender at 119 with the exception of Raul Zambrano of Wapato who he lost to 7-6. Josh Corke has stepped up his performance and looks like he is ready to make the next step into the elite class of wrestlers. Jesse DeLaPena has been hampered by injury but did pick up his first tourney championship at the Ki-Be Invite. Jesse leads the team with 6 pins and will be a force to reckon with at tournament time once he is healthy. Ramon DelAngel is wrestling like a state veteran. Ramon has two runner-up finishes this year and has wrestled extremely well.

Others who have impressed include:

Kyle Nickerson - Kyle is the most improved wrestler of the year. He is winning some big matches and turning some heads. Kyle has the potential to beat many of the 160 pounders ranked ahead of him. Could make a good run at a state birth.

Josh Corriel - Josh picked up his first tourney championship at the Tonasket Apple Pie Invite and is gaining confidence with each match. The CWAC has a lot of depth at 171, but Josh has the ability to beat enough of them to make it to state this year.

Cody Roos - Cody is bound to improve on his performance of last year. Roos went to Regionals last year before getting knocked out of the poset-season. Cody is another possible state birth contender.

Justin Corke, Devin Leavitt, Barry Leavitt and Kevin Hunter have won some big matches and placed well in some tournaments. These four will help make the Bears a team to contend with come tournament time.

Most Wins by Active Wrestlers
66	Jesse DeLaPena (T11th overall)
66	Sergio Avila (T11th overall)
40	Josh Corke
29	Ramon DelAngel
21	Josh Corriel

Most Pins by Active Wrestlers
29	Jesse DeLaPena (10th overall)
28	Sergio Avila (11th overall)
12	Cody Roos
11	Ramon DelAngel
7	Chris Dehmer
7	Mark McCullough
7	Andrew Wight

This will be an exciting team to watch develop as the second half gets underway.