Jones Puts Colfax On The Map; Wilbur-Creston’s Doolittle Wins
A/B
Winter isn’t just for basketball in Colfax anymore.
Kelly Jones changed all that Saturday night at the State A/B wrestling tournament in the Tacoma Dome. The Bulldog senior became the first Colfax state wrestling champion in 11 years when he beat Tyler Moe of Liberty Bell, 6-1, in the 148-pound final.
“It’s all basketball down there,” said Bulldogs coach Jack McBride. “Now it’s Colfax wrestling.”
Darrell Doolittle did Jones one better, becoming the first champion in Wilbur-Creston’s 29 years of wrestling. He did it with a 4-0 win over Luke Moerke of Adna. It came at the right time for John Kreit, who is retiring after coaching the Wildcats for 27 of those 29 years.
“It makes you feel like maybe you finally accomplished something,” Kreit said. “I always felt like getting kids to the state tournament was icing on the cake.”
Jones, an all-state linebacker, became the first Colfax champion since McBride’s son, Brenden, won the 178-pound title in 1987.
“His name is up on the gym wall and that’s what I’ve always wanted,” Jones said. “Since I was a little kid, I’ve talked about this moment.”
All Jones could do last season was talk about a state title, having lost to Moe in a loser-out match at the regional tournament. This season, however, Jones went 34-0 at 148 pounds, including an overtime win over Moe for the regional title.
“Last year, I lost to that kid to get into the state tournament, so I had to beat him this year,” Jones said.
Jones follows his brothers, Casey and Eric, as a state medalist. Casey placed fourth in 1992 at 141 pounds and Eric was third in 1988 at 135 pounds.
“He made us look bad,” said Casey, who nevertheless was ecstatic with Kelly’s accomplishment.”
Added Eric, “He was tired of taking our guff.”
Like Jones, this was Doolittle’s first trip to the state tournament.
“I never thought I would get this far,” said the Wilbur-Creston junior. “All the guys looked bigger than me. Until I got them on the mat, then I knew I could control them.”
, DataTimes