Ferguson, Nguyen place in Inland Empire Classic

Cheney's Michael Ferguson added another title to his trophy case after he won the 220-pound division at the Inland Empire Classic, Dec. 12.

In his bracket Ferguson pinned University's Caleb Thomas (1 minute, 31 seconds), Eisenhower's Gerardo Pimente (15 seconds), East Valley's Jacob Martinez (15 seconds), University's Clayton Fincher (2:25), and Coeur d'Alene's Alex Marshall (3:40) in the finals.

Ferguson wasn't the only Blackhawk to reach the medal podium as Zack Nguyen (132) finished fourth in his weight class.

After a first-round bye, Nguyen defeated Coeur d'Alene's Chase Baca, 4-2, and Bonney Lake's Mason Sabin, 12-7. After losing to Lakeland's Larry Johnson in the semifinals via pin, Nguyen was pinned by Moses Lake's Cooper McCullough in the third-place match.

"Ferguson faced some competition but he was still dominant," head coach Brad Rasmussen said. "Zack wrestled so good."

Devon Waterman (195) scored a 19-2 technical fall over Richland's Isaac Lovato in his first match though he did not finish the tournament at Central Valley. According to Rasmussen, Waterman was taking his ACT test.

Cameron Wiseman (145) lost his first round match to Sandpoint's Hyrum Hunsucker via pin. He received a bye in the consolation bracket's first round, then pinned both Eisenhower's Emilio Torres and Hanford's Boyd Lorz. He was eliminated from the tournament after Lewis and Clark's Eli Malm pinned him in their match.

Boedy Taylor (170) and Garrett Pederson (285) went 1-2 before being eliminated in the consolation round. As a team, Cheney finished 12th out of 20 with 77.5 points.

"I was really pleased with how we did, our kids brawled" Rasmussen said. "We took only eight kids but we scored twice as many points as we did at the Deer Park tournament."

Before the Inland Empire Classic, Cheney dropped a nonconference dual to Northeast A League champion Colville, 55-18, Dec. 9, winning only three matches.

Ferguson won his match via forfeit. Pederson pinned Chris Lindsay early in the second period of their match.

"Garrett got a big win for us," Rasmussen said. "They bumped their 220 pounder to 285, thinking they could get an easy win over Garrett, but he surprised them."

Nguyen pinned Slade Braun late in the third period at 132.

"Colville, they were tough," Rasmussen said. "The score isn't reflective of how things really went. Our kids fought hard the entire time."

Cheney hosted Medical Lake in a nonconference dual, Dec. 15. They travel to Yakima to compete in the Eisenhower Mat Classic, Dec. 19, and return to Central Valley, Dec. 22, to compete in the Tri-County Classic.

"Medical Lake is a fun rivalry and they've got a new coach (Josh Edmondson)," Rasmussen said. "We had a lot of fun and wrestled at North Idaho College together. Eisenhower is a good tournament. It's good to see some of that Mid-Valley competition."

Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].