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Four Oakdale Youth Wrestlers Snare Big Medals
2-2 OAK Youth Wrest
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Four Oakdale Youth Wrestling Club grapplers snared medals and two of them came home with majestic eagle trophies from the highly regarded Tulsa Nationals in Oklahoma on Jan. 21 and 22.

Competing against some of the toughest young wrestlers in the country, Oakdale’s seven participants saw dozens of hard-fought matches and watched a fall painfully close to medaling.

Four of them did, including third place honorees Logan Eaton and Colbey Harlan, who received impressive awards with spectacular bronzed bald eagles soaring off the base.

“I felt that the kids wrestled well, and we won most of the matches that I felt we should have won,” Oakdale youth coach Steve Strange said. “We competed really well, especially since that was considered the toughest youth tournament in the country.”

Eaton, a 15-and-under competitor from Summerville, landed his trophy from the 75-pound division. Harlan, a 10-and-under wrestler from Waterford, did the same from the 76-pound bracket.

Oakdale Junior High School eighth grader, Nico Colunga, nabbed fifth place honors at 89 pounds in the 15-and-under division as well.

Jake Ryan, a 12-and-under wrestler from Modesto, was also fourth at 105 pounds.

“The neat thing about these kids that placed, is they are all young for their division,” Strange said. “All these kids will be in the same division for a chance to place even higher next year.”

Oakdale Youth Wrestlers will be at McNair High for a tournament on Sunday.