Area roundup: NIC’s Reece makes semifinals at NJCAA wrestling
North Idaho’s Dajour Reece made it to the semifinals in the 165-pound weight class with three wins on Friday on the first day of the NJCAA national wrestling tournament in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Reece will face Colby’s Gavin Grater in Saturday’s semifinals.
Reece pinned Labette’s Chazden Blankenship in the first round, earned a 22-7 technical fall-win over Ellsworth’s Sadarris Patterson in the second round and edged Lincoln’s Tyree Overton in the quarterfinals.
The Cardinals’ only other wrestler at the tournament, Damian Trujillo, moved into the consolation bracket after a 7-2 quarterfinal loss to Iowa Lakes’ Guy Henson. Trujillo beat Colby’s DeVante Ragland 4-2 in his first consolation match and will face Nassau’s Jenard Rosemond in the consolation semifinals on Saturday.
Swimming
Washington State’s Addisynn Bursch set a school record in the 400-meter individual medley at the Pac-12 Conference Championships in Federal Way, Washington.
Bursch finished in 4 minutes, 15.51 seconds, good enough for 12th place. Anna Brolin finished 12th in the butterfly in 53.65 seconds, third-best in school history.
The Cougars are in eighth place. The championships wrap up on Saturday.
Track and field
Washington State’s Liz Harper was the runner-up in the pentathlon at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships at the Dempsey Indoor Facility in Seattle.
Harper finished with 4,146 points, third best in school history. WSU’s Alissa Brooks-Johnson, last year’s Pac-12 Conference outdoor heptathlon champion, was third in the pentathlon.
Michael Williams led the Cougar men with an 11th-place finish in the 5,000 meters. He finished in 14:10.30, a personal best.
The event continues on Saturday.
The foursome of Paula Gil-Echevarria, Brooke Monson, Leanna Asper and Katie Mahoney finished in 11:51.19.
Larry Still led the EWU men with a first-place finish in the pole vault. He reached a school-record height of 17 feet.
Kinsey Gomez (Coeur d’Alene High School) led the Idaho women with a first-place finish in the 5,000-meters. She finished in 17:02.64.
The Vandals’ Drew Thompson was second in the heptathlon (5,031 points) and Matt Sullivan was second in the pole vault (16-4 3/4). The championships continue on Saturday.
Baseball
Washington State’s Ryan Walker was nearly perfect for five innings in relief of starter Damon Jones and the Cougars edged Houston Baptist 3-2 at a tournament in Edinburg, Texas.
Walker gave up just one hit and no walks after coming into the game to start the third inning. Scotty Sunitsch earned his first save of the season after blanking the Huskies (3-3) in the eighth and ninth. The winning run came in the sixth on a squeeze bunt from Derek Chapman that scored Patrick McGrath.
WSU (2-4) plays Prairie View A&M at the tournament on Saturday.
Taylor Jones and Jack Krauel added three RBIs apiece for the Bulldogs, who put up six runs in the second inning and led 14-0 after the fourth inning.
Gonzaga (3-2) will play Bradley and Incarnate World at the tournament on Saturday.