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Wrestling teams finish strong

Ryon Martinho (top left) pinned his opponent in 48 seconds. Mike Miller (top right) pinned his opponent in 51 seconds. IVHS senior wrestlers (bottom) Sarah White, Ebyn Lindsey, Ryon Martinho, Riley Denlinger, Jahsiah Demuth and Colton Medina with their families.
(Photos by Lindsay Martinho for the Illinois Valley News)

Dusty Fiske
IVN contributing writer

The Illinois Valley High School boys and girls wrestling teams finished their regular season with impressive wins!
Wednesday night in the Cougar gym, with a large and loud crowd, the boys finished their dual season with a 58-18 win over Hidden Valley. The boys put together 9 pins and a major decision to finish their dual season on top 11 -1.
Early Saturday morning (they left CJ at 3 a.m.) they went to Monroe to compete in the Howell Invitational 2023. They arrived back home around 9 p.m. with a first-place trophy. Coach Jesse Clark said he “was impressed with the performance,” but said they still have some things to work out before districts.
James Conn (106), Micah Martinho (113), Talen Shaffer (126), Ryon Martinho (138), Ryan Griffin (152) and Jozia Williams (170) all won championships, while Ethan Green (120) and Ebyn Lyndsey (126) took second place. (*Weight)
The Cougars finished their tournament season with two firsts, a second, a third and three fourths. Many of those tournaments were with much larger schools, some from California, and with as many as 30 teams. Coaches Jesse Clark and Gene Griffin have done a great job shepherding the I.V. wrestling program to a positive direction.
Coach Clark was equally excited and very impressed with the girls wrestling team. This is the first year that the I.V. has had a girls team.
Saturday the girls team traveled to North Medford High School to compete in the Rogue Valley 2023 Girls Championships. Led by Chiara Miller (three pins and a championship) and Morgan Melton (two pins and second place) the girls took second place over many larger schools. This could be the start of a very successful I.V. girls wrestling program. Great job!
Both teams will be going to Lowell to compete in the OSAA 2A/1A Special District 2 Tournament April 10 and 11.