Medical Lake happy with the close loss against its old and larger West Plains neighbor
CHENEY —Blackhawk wrestlers hosted this years Scabland Scuffle dual in the annual West Plains grapple, just barely beating the Cardinals in a close 41-33 struggle under the spotlight on Wednesday, Jan. 8.
It was a hotly contested effort by wrestlers from both teams, with scoring going down to the final match.
“That’s a pretty fun day of wrestling,” Cheney head coach Jason Connor said after the meet, adding of the Cardinals, “they came to compete. They came out and punched us in the mouth right out of the chute.”
That punch came from Cardinal Brent Keith, who came out and immediately pinned Cheney’s James Whiteley in the 195-pound weight class in the matches first period.
“That was a match we didn’t expect to lose at all,” Connor said. “That one set the tone and we knew it was going to be a battle all night long.”
Cardinal head coach Matt Leenhouts was happy with his crew’s efforts.
“We did good,” Leenhouts said, adding later that Cheney High School is roughly three times the size of Medical Lake
As of Tuesday, the Cheney wrestling squad was ranked sixth in the state 2A division, according to Washington Wrestling Reports, while Medical Lake is tied with Forks for fourth in 1A.
Of the Scuffle’s 14 matches, the two teams split the wins, with Cheney taking home the victory — and the bragging rights — on decision points.
In the other matches, 220-pound Blackhawk Jason Inman pinned Medical Lake’s Gavin Chaffee in 5:32, followed by a 2:10 pin of Cheney’s Daniel Gonzalez by Cardinal Colton Ellis in the 210 class.
At 113, William Seeberger beat Cardinal Benjamin Henry in a 9-2 decision, and Joe Showalter took out Isaac Kane in a 10-2 major decision in the 120-pound class.
Medical Lake’s Aden Carl took it hard and fast to Luke Ruby at 126, with a 3:00 minute pin, followed by another pin at 132 by Alexander Gonzalez over Cheney’s Jase Inner in 1:20.
Then Cheney poured it on with a pin by Hunter Despino over Cardinal John Anderson in a 2:59 at 138.
Calling it a “huge match,” Connor noted that Blackhawk junior varsity wrestler Ashton Geiger stepped up and surprised everyone by pinning Cardinal Brandon Giles in the 145-class in 3:27.
“That was a real turning point for us,” Conner said.
Blackhawk Dylan Straley stretched out his match against Victor Long at 152 with a 15-7 major decision win, followed by teammate Jackson Showalter, who pinned Medical Lake’s Nate Stevens in 4:30.
At 170, Cardinal Ethan Davis beat Blake Seubert in a 4-0 decision, and at 182 it was Blackhawk Anthony Aguilera who pinned Jarod Pendell in 4:30.
Cardinal Jayden Wyatt won on forfeit at 106-pound class.
Despite the loss, Leenhouts felt the Cardinals boasted superior wrestlers.
“I think overall we’re a better team,” he said. “I thought we looked in better shape than they did. We work them way harder than anybody else, I guarantee it.”
Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected].
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