Colville Edges Chewelah in Tight Duel; Both Squads Find Success at East Valley Classic

Donaldson had the best seat in the house, sitting ringside for most of the duel in a crowded Colville gymnasium. It got even better when he was called to the mat for his weight class battle that would decide which team won.

“Before the match, I was thinking about how I'm going to do in front of my coaches and everyone,” Donaldson said. “As the match begins, it starts to leave your mind. Once you're on the mat, all you're thinking about is beating your opponent.”

It’s perhaps a testament to how well Colville and Chewelah wrestlers are coached, but the final matchup was every bit a test of endurance as it was strength. Donaldson had an early 3-0 lead after the first period and extended that to 7-0 by the third.

“In the middle of the match, I'm completely exhausted,” Donaldson said. “I don't know what to do. I know I'm making mistakes, but all that is going on in my head is wrestling your match.”

Donaldson said he was nervous watching his teammates pick up wins and figuring out the scores he would need to get a victory. During the match itself, he said he could feel some slips and missteps and was almost pinned during the match by Bennett.

But he kept pushing.

“Coach told me before I went out there, ‘everything is on you, either you win this, or you lose this. No matter what happens, just go out and play your heart out,’” Donaldson said. “I think that him saying that really just made me fight harder. I didn’t give up. I wanted to show him and the rest of my teammates what I could do.”

Colville opened the dual with momentum at 113 pounds, where Andy Ussery earned a decisive 17-4 major decision over Taysen Stauffer. The Crimson Hawks followed with another key swing at 120, as Kyler Klauder pinned Jameson Erickson to extend the early lead.

Chewelah answered back at 132, when Trevin Stauffer pinned Jack Canada, and again at 157 and 165, where Titan Tapia and Dakota Katzer recorded falls over Jonathan Shaw and Ceasar Stuart, respectively, flipping the momentum in the Cougars’ favor.

Colville countered with a pin of its own at 138, as Bryce Davis finished Brody King, and closed the dual strong at 175, where Donaldson secured a decision win to seal the one-point victory for the Crimson Hawks.

Both programs carried that competitive energy into the East Valley Interstate Classic on Saturday, Dec. 13, where individual wrestlers faced large brackets and strong regional competition.

For Colville, Bryce Davis (138 pounds) continued an impressive stretch, advancing to the championship match with back-to-back pins over Ferris’ Taylor Mauss and West Valley’s Jaiden Peak. Davis finished second, falling by major decision to Eisenhower’s Jarek Dobbie in the title bout.

Trent Seitters (157 pounds) put together a productive tournament run, recording three pins in consolation matches after an early loss, showing resilience and earning valuable team points against a deep field.

Chewelah was represented at East Valley by Katzer (165 pounds), who placed sixth after battling through the consolation rounds. Katzer earned a decision win over Riverside’s Luke DesRoches before facing strong Spokane opponents later in the bracket.

“We're definitely improving,” Donaldson said of Colville. “I can say we're a lot better than the first day. Everyone's gotten so much better.”