Battle of the Bone - By Easton Praino

    On a Wednesday night at 6pm, the Richland Bombers took on the Hanford Falcons in a girls wrestling duel. In last year's match, the Bomber girls won. But it looks like this year, Hanford may give them a run for their money. Just like the Boys' team, this Hanford girls' team shares an Instagram account called “@hanfordsbestteam”. They are talking some tall cotton on how they are going to beat Richland in one contact sport for the first time this year.  To understand what's going on in the matchup, we have to look deeper into these teams. Some notables for Richland are Kyndra Casias, Tiffany Ham, Savannah Thorpe, Savannah Dufault. Hanford's key wrestler is Mackenzie Shupe, who placed in the state last season. Talking to one of Hanford's coaches, Coach Perkes, he shared and gave me some insight into tonight's duel, “Wrestling is an individual sport with a team score. The Bone helps give meaning to the match. Having a little something extra to fight for helps bring the team together.” The atmosphere was amazing tonight, with fans and coaches hearing all sorts of noise. Fan Bryan Weston had something to say, “The atmosphere was something special. You could see every single person there get into the duel. It was hard to hear the person next to you talk when a match was taking place.” Coach Perkes also weighed in on how the atmosphere could play a factor in this match, “The kids know they will have the biggest crowds and loudest fans that night. Getting to be part of that face-off is everyone's goal.” Richland ended up winning 60-24 in a mascare.

    The energy was amazing at Hanford's gym. They did a very cool entrance for the wrestlers, turning the lights off and putting a spotlight in the center of the mat, calling off the girls' names while they shook hands in the middle. To start the duel off right, Savannah Thorpe dominated the first duel of the night, keeping the Hanford girl on the mat for the majority of the time. We got to see the night's matchup early on to keep the night moving along. It was Shupe versus Dufualt. Shupe was fast and athletic at the start, dominating the first round of the duel. As the duel continued, Dufault took control to open up the second round by putting Shupe in uncomfortable positions. Dufault never let up, eventually pinning Shupe. This set the tone as almost everyone in that building thought Shupe was going to win, and this win by Dufualt swayed the moment towards the Bomber girls, and they never let go of it. The next matchup we highlight is Tiffany Ham. From what I saw in the stands, Ham is a leader for this girls' team, encouraging her teammates every single duel. This duel started off fairly slow. After some hand-fighting, Tiffany tried pulling the opposing player's head down and eventually succeeded. They were wrapped up on the ground for about forty-five seconds before the first round ended. This was a very back-and-forth matchup. Ham was put in difficult situations in the second round. Jordyn Jamison eventually overpowered Ham. A few duels later, we watched Kyndra Casias in a sticky situation at the start of this duel before quickly maneuvering her way out. The two girls kept fighting, shoving each other's heads down. Brie dominated the first round of this matchup, giving her the advantage to start round two. Kyndra would not let a sloppy first round defeat her; she quickly took control of round 2 and pinned Brie in under a minute. This match showed me a lot of character from these girls; we got to see some real grit, teamwork, and determination. You could see the hard work they have been putting in every day, and the Bone stays theirs for one more year.

    My favorite part of this match was when the Bombers would celebrate their teammates throughout the whole match, whether they won or lost. They would help each other during their duels, getting on the mat and screaming at one another, giving them pointers on what to do. Looking into the future, the Girls will travel to Kelso High School on Friday the 5th. It will be a two-day tournament ending on Saturday the 6th. There will be forty-five teams at the duel. I know forty-five teams is a crazy amount. The MCC teams there will be Kamiakin, Southridge, Pasco, Chiawana, and Hermiston. The girls keep this winning streak and try bringing home some hardware.