Cheney holds its own against Deer Park

Facing one of the most potent lineups in the Great Northern League, Cheney wrestlers held their own against Deer Park last Wednesday, Jan. 9.

Although Deer Park started off with eight straight wins, Cheney was able to recoup some of its losses. Against a league-leading team like Deer Park, the effort proved to be a strong performance for Cheney. Deer Park ended up winning 46-27.

“I really thought we wrestled fairly well against them,” head coach Wade Schlotter said in an email.

After a struggling start, Schlotter said Cheney eventually got things going with its higher weights.

“We fell into a huge hole that we couldn’t get ourselves out of,” he said. “We fell behind 37-0, then rallied to make it 37-27.”

Sam Pegg (170), Michael Ferguson (182) and Eli Mason (195) strung together a Cheney comeback, including Cameron Schlotter’s (220) win by forfeit. It was a completely different latter half for Deer Park, which wasn’t able to score again until the final match against freshman Casen Dunn (106).

Zac Corean (285) continued Cheney’s string of success, narrowly escaping defeat.

“Zac had to come back from being down 1-4 with 20 seconds left in the match,” Schlotter said. “He was able to get an escape and a takedown as time expired, sending the match into overtime where he was able to get a takedown to win the match.”

When looking back at the match, Schlotter said the efforts of Ferguson were among the highlights. Ferguson pinned his opponent in 3:42, one of only three Cheney pins.

“Freshman Michael Ferguson at 182 really wrestled well for us; getting a pin in a big match like Deer Park is tough for a young wrestler,” he said.

Looking to this week’s matches against Clarkston and East Valley, Schlotter said his team faces another strong challenge from both teams.

“Clarkston and EV are both going to be tough this week,” he said. “We have some kids out and are going to have to count on some younger kids to fill in.”

James Eik can be reached at [email protected].