Cheney wrestlers dominate districts

By SHANNEN TALBOT

Staff Reporter

The Cheney boys wrestling team delivered at districts with a vengeance, taking first place in the Great Northern League with 260.5 points and smashing the competition by more than 75 points.

East Valley followed with 185.5 points, Clarkston with 176, West Valley with 166.5 and Pullman with 144.

“We’ve seen all these kids throughout the year, and we knew if they wrestled to their potential we were going to win that tournament,” head coach Jason Connor said.

The Blackhawk grapplers have controlled the mat all season, winning the league championship for the first time in three decades. At the district meet in Spokane Valley, Michael Bozeman (23-17) placed first in the 132-pound weight class and scored 24 team points. Also placing first and capturing 24 team points was James Whiteley (31-12) weighing in at 182 pounds.

“Blake Seubert had a great match; he beat a ranked EV wrestler in the finals,” Connor said. “He’s been wrestling up at 160 because that’s what helped the team, but now he’s in a more natural weight class for him.”

Seubert (31-12) placed first in the 145-pound weight class, earning 26 team points and winning all three of the quarterfinal, semifinal and first-place matches. In the finals, Seubert won by fall over East Valley’s Jacob Kessinger (15-4).

Cheney’s Dylan Straley (34-3) also placed first in the 138-pound weight class, scoring 26 team points and winning by fall over Pullman’s Zach Dahmen (29-8), while Blackhawk Jackson Showalter earned 25.5 team points with his first place win in the 152-pound weight class.

“Winning the district tournament is certainly a good first step coming into the post season,” Connor said. “Now it comes down to what their individual goals are.”

Regionals on Saturday, Feb. 9 should be interesting for the Blackhawk mat men, as several stand poised to continue on in the post season. The state tournament will take qualifiers to the Tacoma Dome on Friday, Feb. 15.

Connor credited the boys’ victory to hard work and “gutty performances,” saying that the name of the game at this point is simply perseverance. Despite the brackets for regionals not being released yet, Connor said he and his wrestlers “know what we’re going to be looking at.”

Shannen Talbot can be reached at [email protected].