Skaff set to lead Cheney wrestling

When Jason Connor stepped away as the Cheney boys’ head wrestling coach following the 2022-23 season, the Blackhawks program did not have to go far to replace him.

With over 20 years of experience as an assistant, Brian Skaff was the logical choice.

For Connor, whose day job is as a biologist for the Kalispel Tribe, coaching was important, but family and other winter pursuits more so.

“I loved doing it but was a challenge with my job being so far away and balance other interests,” Connor wrote in an email. “My daughter lives in Hawaii so we are going to crash her pad for a few weeks in December,” adding, “I plan to spend more time skiing and get to vacation in the winter for the first time in many years.”

While Connor is cooling it, Skaff will be in the heat of the battle in what he calls the toughest wrestling environment in the state.

“When we have to wrestle Mead, U-Hi, Mount Spokane in our region, we join up with Hermiston, (Oregon), and I mean, those are top five in the state last year,” Skaff explained. “Our league schedule gets us ready for the postseason.”

Staff traces his connections to Cheney wrestling back 23 years, 22 as an assistant coach he noted.

And over those decades he’s never seen such interest in the sport with 64 boys and another 10 girls — now operating as their own program — signed up.

“That’s a nice problem to have when you don’t have a big enough wrestling room,” Staff said.

Staff singled out several key team members he thinks will propel Cheney through the 2023-24 season. It’s a group that has put in a good deal of off-season work pointed at earning more state berths come February at Mat Classic in Tacoma.

Gauge Seubert is one of the returning state alternates who will likely wrestle at 215 pounds.

“He comes from family and wrestlers so that’s kind of fun,” Staff said. “His brothers pushed him throughout the past so we’re looking for him to do great things this year.”

Another state alternate is Mason Bennett who competed at 145 pounds. “He did a bunch of work over the summer, went to a bunch of camps and offseason workouts and we’re really looking for him to make that jump also,” Staff said.

Cameron Bogle was one match away from making that state tournament.

“He’s probably my most ornery, most competitive little guy in the room,” Staff said. “It’s nice to have a little leader like that.”

There’s true wrestling DNA with Shadrach Mason who comes from the Mason family of wrestling at Cheney. Mason wrestled at Medical Lake last season.

“It’s nice to have a little bit of that prodigy back in the room so he knows what it takes me to to get where he needs to be,” Skaff said.

Trent Moore, is the lone returning state placer as a sophomore and finished sixth at 170, losing to regional opponent, Ben Larson of Hermiston, but amassed a 38-19 record.

Skaff has a solid core of assistant coaches who return and include Jared Lacambra, Brad Rasmussen, Dane Hall, Ezra Anderson and Jecter Ramirez.