Cheney wrestling picks up first GNL win

The Cheney High School wrestling team earned its first league win last week on Dec. 13 against Pullman. The 51-25 victory also marked the first home match of the season.

“It was great,” head coach Brad Rasmussen said. “It is always fun to wrestle at home in front of your friends and family. With the young team, I didn’t know how we would do going into the match, but we came out and we battled well.”

The freshmen on the team seemed to take control, collecting four of the six wins. Freshmen Jase Winner and Dylan Straley got the ball rolling for the Blackhawks with a wins at 106 and 126 pounds. Freshmen Blake Seubert (145) and Anthony Aguilara (152) also collected wins for Cheney.

Rounding out the victories for Cheney was senior Zach Nguyen at 138 pounds and sophomore Mason Allen at 195 pounds. Jackson Knutzen, Ian Schwendiman, and Teagan Simon all won by forfeits.

The Blackhawks continued competition at the Cadet Classic hosted by Yakima’s Eisenhower High School on Dec. 16. Cheney placed 10th out of the 17 teams competing and scored 85.5 points on the day.

“We wrestled fairly well,” Rasmussen said. “We didn’t have anybody in the finals which was a little disappointing. But at the end of the day, we came out to compete and we have a lot to be proud of.”

Nguyen placed the highest for a Blackhawk, taking home third in his 138 pound bracket.

“Zach wrestled great,” Rasmussen added.

Winner competed in the 106 bracket and went 2-2. Simon competed at 120 pounds and pinned his competitor in the first round, but ended up going 1-3.

Straley was another Blackhawk to earn a pin in the first round and accomplished it in less than a minute. The freshman kept battling through the consolation bracket to eventually place fifth. The other Blackhawks to take the podium were Alan Coumbs (170) and Allen (195).

“Mason Allen placed and I believe got his first medal,” Rasmussen said. “He had a chance to take third, but he still came out and finished in fifth.”

Michael Bozeman competed in the 132-pound bracket and went 2-2 overall. Seubert competed at 145 pounds while Aguilara was at 160 and they both went 2-2.

The Blackhawks will have a little break as they will not compete until Dec. 30 at Freeman High School in another tournament. GNL competition will pick back up on Jan. 3 at Clarkston.

Grace Pohl can be reached at [email protected].