Senior Boedy Taylor (left) won his match against West Valley and continued the victorious streak into the Ray Westberg Invitational by winning the respective bracket.
The Cheney High School wrestling team had a nail-biting Great Northern League loss against West Valley in front of a home crowd on Wednesday, Jan. 10. The loss brought Cheney's record to 1-2 in the league.
The Blackhawks were leading for the majority of the match until West Valley pinned the last four wrestlers, giving the Eagles a 37-33 edge at the end.
"It was obviously not what we anticipated, but there was a lot of positive things that came out of the match," head coach Brad Rasmussen said. "Shane Moore had his second varsity win. Even though he was outmatched, he showed up and competed well. That was huge for us"
Ian Schwendiman started Cheney off with a pin at 1 minute, 23 seconds at the 113-pound spot. Dylan Straley won at the 126-pound position with a dominate 16-0 victory.
Jackson Showalter continued the success at 132 pounds with a 12-0 major decision win.
Zack Nguyen (138) showed little remorse against his opponent as he earned a pin in 15 seconds. Blake Seubert (145) also pinned his competition at 1:13. Shane Moore went on to earn a 9-3 win over his opponent at the 160-pound spot.
Boedy Taylor (182) defeated his opponent in a well fought 5-0 win. The victory ended up being the final win for the Blackhawks on the night.
Despite the league loss during the week, Cheney regrouped and traveled to Ellensburg for the Ray Westberg Invitational the following Saturday, Jan. 13.
As a team, the Blackhawks took seventh place out of the 15 teams with 118.5 points.
"We had a lot of good wrestling following the West Valley match," Rasmussen said. "Even though we took seventh we had a lot of team points and those teams above us are usually ranked in the state."
Highlighting the meet was Taylor winning the 182-pound bracket. After receiving a bye in the first round, Taylor went on to defeat Jack Mallonee from W.F. West and Cade Stevenson from Ellensburg, both by pins. In the championship match, Taylor took on Moises Morales from Sunnyside and won 3-1.
"Boedy has been struggling with consistency this season, but he opened up during the tournament and just went off. He wrestled really well," Rasmussen said.
Another notable spot for the Blackhawks was Nguyen, who took second in the 138-pound bracket. He started off with a 19-9 win over Gabe Fabian from Selah, and went on to defeat Moises Zesati from Sunnyside 17-0. The next match was against Morgan McFee from Chiawana, where Nguyen won 4-2. He ended up losing in the championship round against Marcus Peterson from Sumner.
Straley was another standout during the meet as he placed third overall in the 126-pound bracket and went 3-1 on the day. Both Anthony Aguilera (152) and Seubert (145) placed fifth in their respective brackets.
"Dylan Straley taking third as a freshman is really outstanding," Rasmussen said. "Teagan Simon and Blake Seubert have also been really consistent this season. There are bright spots everywhere on the team."
The Blackhawks finished up GNL action on Wednesday, Jan. 17 at East Valley High School. The Knights were undefeated in the league upon entering the match.
"East Valley is a powerhouse for a reason, but I like playing the role of an underdog," Rasmussen said. "I am excited to see how we can compete. It will be a good test."
Cheney will close out their home schedule on Jan. 24 against Medical Lake.
Grace Pohl can be reached at [email protected].
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