Cheney defeats West Valley in Great Northern dual

It was a bad night for the West Valley Eagles when they entered the Blackhawks’ gym, Jan. 6, as Cheney went on to win their Great Northern League dual, 43-30.

After back-to-back pins from Billy Smith (113 pounds) Saul Bautista (120), Zack Nguyen (132) earned a 13-2 majority decision over Ethan Rhen in a match where he controlled the pace the entire time.

“Zack has that ability to control matches,” head coach Brad Rasmussen said. “He wanted to get that pin so bad though, and he was a bit angry about it. We talked about it afterwards.”

After being down 2-0 in the first period, Cameron Wiseman (145) battled back and pinned Spencer Young in the third period of their match. Rasmussen said Wiseman hyper extended his arm a day before the meet and was in a sling up until hours before the match.

“He came up to me earlier that day and said ‘coach I’m wrestling,’” Rasmussen said. “We had to do a last-minute workout to get his weight down to 145 and we didn’t know what to expect. He came through for us and that’s what we expect of our seniors. It was a really big match for him.”

After Wiseman’s pin, Francisco Martinez (152) picked up a close 3-2 win over Brendan McNiven.

Down 30-25, J.W. Meriot (195) clinched the win for the Blackhawks after pinning Ethan Simpson in the third period. Rasmussen called the win “huge” for the freshman.

“He’s young and doesn’t have a lot of experience, but he was clutch,” Rasmussen said. “He was excited to get that win and that was the icing on the cake for us.”

Michael Ferguson’s (220) win via forfeit and Garrett Pederson’s (285) first-period pin over Spencer Splitter capped the Blackhawks’ scoring.

“I was pretty proud with how we did,” Rasmussen said. “Our kids did everything we asked them to do. With a home crowd behind them, it was a great atmosphere. It was one of the most fun meets I’ve been a part of. It’s one of those things you dream of as a coach.”

Cheney traveled to Clarkston to face the defending state champion Bantams in a GNL dual, Jan. 13. They’ll go to Ellensburg to compete in the Ray Westberg Invite, Jan. 16.

“Clarkston’s a tough team and we’ll try to win matches where we can,” Rasmussen said before the Jan. 13 meet.

Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].