Cruisers' Brown goes out strong

Derek Brown capped his career as a wrestler for the Eatonville Cruisers with a third-place finish in the state 2A tournament in Tacoma last weekend.

Brown, lost 7-0 in the 170-pound quarterfinals to Reese Jones of Othello, the eventual champion. But Brown bounced back with a pin of Ephrata’s Cole Spencer to reach the third/fourth-place match, which Brown won 2-1 against Jordan LaPointe of Franklin Pierce.

Two other Cruisers also competed in the two-day state tourney at the Tacoma Dome. Zach Trujillo, a senior at 220 pounds, was beaten by both of his foes. One was Brayden Bostwick of W.F. West, who went on to finish third. And Kayla Trujillo, a freshman, lost both of her matches at 105 pounds but still made a splash by being the Cruisers’ first-ever entry in the state tournament.