MEDICAL LAKE — Cardinal head wrestling coach Matt Leenhouts, coming off a hard-fought, close loss against Cheney at the Scabland Scuffle the day before, bragged that he worked his team harder than anyone else.
“We’ve got Colville tomorrow,” he said as his wrestlers made their way out of the Cheney gymnasium. “It’s going to show tomorrow.”
And show it did, in the Cardinal’s 42-33 defeat of Colville, their first dual win against the Indians in over decade — since 2009 to be exact — on Thursday, Jan. 9.
In the 132-pound weight class, Cardinal Alex Gonzales pinned Colville’s Wyatt Gleave in 1 minute, 15 seconds, while Victor Long, wrestling at 152, pinned Colville’s Devin Minner in 3:25.
Cardinal Nate Stevens took out Hayden Sattler with a 3:17 pin in the 160-class.
The Cardinal who is always the man to beat for the opposition, Ethan Davis, made quick work of Colville’s Jack Gallenger in the 170-pound class with a 57-second pin.
Cardinal Isaac Kane at 120, the usually tough-to-beat Aden Carl at 126, Austin Armstrong at 138, Brent Keith at 182 and Gavin Chaffee all lost their matches to pins, while Brandon Giles, wrestling at 145, lost in a decision.
Colville forfeit to Angel Mendez at 106, Ben Henry at 113 and Colton Ellis at 285.
Both teams forfeit at 195.
“It’s great to get a win,” Leenhouts said after the meet, adding the victory happened on a skeleton crew of wrestlers as he worked to balance his assets ahead of two days of wrestling in Post Falls that was ultimately canceled due to weather. “We’ve probably got 12 duals in four days.”
The unexpected break was fortunate as Leenhouts noted his team, as much as he likes to brag about them, “still have a ton of stuff to work on,” even as the team eyes the Northeast A league title.
“I really think, stepping up a little bit, that we win … the league, then districts and regionals,” he said, adding that the top four at state is the team’s goal.
Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected].
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