Cheney's Michael Ferguson is moments away from pinning Medical Lake's Dustin Horlander in the second period of their match at the Dec. 3 Shadle Park jamboree.
The Cheney High wrestling team kicked off its season with a few high notes, most notably Michael Ferguson winning the 285-pound division at the Deer Park Invite, Dec. 5.
After a first-round bye, Ferguson tore through his bracket, pinning Royal's David Lopez in the quarterfinals, fellow Blackhawk Garrett Pederson in the semi-finals and Freeman's Joey Sims in the championship round. All three of Ferguson's pins were under a minute.
Ferguson spent most of last season at 220 pounds. Head coach Brad Rasmussen said Ferguson may drop back to 220 later in the season, while Pederson will continue to wrestle at 285.
"Garrett wins big matches for us at 285," Rasmussen said. "It all depends on what's best for Michael, Garrett and the team."
Pederson finished third in the 285 division. Before facing Ferguson, he earned a 7-0 win over Colville's Sawyer Hughes and pinned Mead's Evan Sticklemeyer. In the third-place match, he earned a 6-0 decision over Lewis and Clark's James Franco-Sichiro.
Zack Nguyen (138) finished sixth in his bracket. After losing his first-round match to North Central's Gavin Gies, via 4-2 decision, he picked up wins over Lewis and Clark's Chase Long, 13-8, Colville's John Knight, 10-5, and Granger's Absalome Macras, 12-6. In the fourth/sixth place match, Ferris' Jack Byers pinned Nguyen in the first period.
"Zack is just fun to watch," Rasmussen said. "He's confident and brings a little bit of spunk to the team. It pushes everyone else to get a little bit better. It's fun having guys like that around."
Saul Bautista (120) went 2-1 in the tournament. He earned a 4-3 decision, over Granger's Josue Mendoza before losing to Springdale's Randy Dixson via pin. He rebounded from the loss to pin Royal's Alex Contreras. Bautista was eliminated after Mt. Spokane's Steven Hansen pinned him in their match.
Cameron Wiseman (145) and Billy Bakke (170) both had wins before being eliminated in the consolation rounds. As a team, Cheney finished 16th out of 18 teams with 44 points.
"We were right where we thought we would be," Rasmussen said. "It's nice to see where we are, especially when you're wrestling that good of competition. It also showed us what flaws we have and what we need to work on."
Before the Deer Park Invite, many Cheney wrestlers competed in a jamboree, Dec. 3, against Greater Spokane League's Shadle Park and Northeast A League's Medical Lake. Ferguson and Billy Smith were 2-0 in the jamboree. Nguyen, Michael Bozeman, Ryan Reiner-Golden and Alan Coumbs were 1-1 and Andrew Rushing was 1-0.
"The kids worked hard last week and we celebrated those small victories," Rasmussen said. "But it's go time now. We just have to stay healthy and get better every day."
After their nonconference dual against NEA's Colville, Dec. 9, the Blackhawks travel to Central Valley to compete in the Inland Empire Classic, Dec. 11-12. They'll host Medical Lake in a nonleague dual, Dec. 15.
"The Colville dual and the Inland Empire tournament are going to be as tough as it gets," Rasmussen said.
Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].
Reader Comments(0)