On Feb. 21 junior Eric Briley (138), who placed fourth in his class at the Regional wrestling competition, competed at State. Briley lost his first two matches, but has next year in mind.

“I definitely have high hopes for next year I just have to work harder.” Briley said. “I did some stuff off-season and leading up to the winter season [this year]. I just know I have to work harder and put my all into it [next year].”

The Wenatchee High School wrestlers competed at and hosted the Regional wrestling competition on Feb. 14. There were five contenders, seniors Ian Valente (132), Logan Tidd (160), Eli Barnett (182), Armando Juarez (heavyweight), and Briley.  Tidd and Juarez placed sixth in their classes.

“You always want your seniors to get through to the State tournament,” WHS coach Ed Valdez said. “Obviously, that didn’t happen. It was a pretty tough region.”

Briley competed in two matches during his first State trip and lost both.

“It’s not all negative,” Valdez said. “First time, things like that happen. He has experience now, he’s already talking about next year. I think it had a positive impact on him.”

Valdez is also already looking toward next season as many upper weight wrestlers are graduating.

“We lost a lot of seniors, we are already looking for replacements,” Valdez said. “I’m really happy with my freshman class, some of the kids got a lot of good experience this year.”