The Cheney Blackhawks wrestling team rolled last week with victories in dual matches against Lakeside and Reardan. The competition was just the beginning for CHS as they also competed at a tournament the following Saturday, Dec. 9.
Against Lakeside, freshman Dylan Straley competed at 126 pounds and pinned Mason Christen within a minute and 27 seconds to help lead the Blackhawks to a 42-25 win. Another freshman, Blake Seubert was the other Blackhawk to earn a pin against Ian Hendershott in the 145-pound spot in 5:53.
“We won two dual matches, so it was a good day of wrestling,” head coach Brad Rasmussen said.
Other Blackhawk wins included Zack Nguyen (138) with a 7-2 decision and Alan Coumbs (170) winning a 9-7 battle.
Cheney continued its success against Reardan, winning 39-32. Anthony Aguilera (160) defeated Tait Lyle 10-4 and Coumbs went 2-0 on the day with a 4-3 win over Ozious Harden. The other win for the Blackhawks was a 6-4 victory for Allan.
Ian Schwendiman, Teagan Simon, Straley, Jackson Showalter and Nguyen all won by forfeit.
Cheney went on to compete at the Wrestle-rama tournament at West Valley on Dec. 9.
Even though there were some wrestlers out due to sickness and injuries, the Blackhawks prevailed to a fifth-place finish out of 12 schools and went 3-2 in dual matches at the tournament.
“Some of those team victories came down to the last match,” Rasmussen said. “It was another good day of wrestling. There were so many good things.”
Michael Bozeman competed in the 132 pounds bracket and went undefeated on the day, ending at 5-0. Out of those matches, he was able to collect pins in four of them.
“Bozeman stepped up to be our No. 2 guy during the tournament,” Rasmussen said. “He just went to work.”
Schwendiman (113), Straley (126), Nguyen (138) and Blake Seubert (145) all went 4-1 on the day.
Freshman James Whiteley was also pulled up to compete and earned his first varsity pin in a Blackhawks uniform against Eric Shalygin from West Valley at 182 pounds. Sophomore Mason Allen (195) also had a clutch performance for Cheney, pinning Jose Avila from Quincy.
“James Whiteley was huge,” Rasmussen said. “He stepped up and he just battled. I am super proud of him. Mason Allen was another guy that wrestled really tough too. He won a huge match at the end for us.”
The Blackhawks competed in their first Great Northern League dual match on Dec. 13 against Pullman in Cheney. The squad will continue competition on Dec. 16 at the Cadet Classic hosted by Eisenhower High School.
“The kids did their job,” Rasmussen said. “Everyone worked really hard. Overall, it was a fun day and a good time to watch wrestling.”
Grace Pohl can be reached at [email protected].
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