LAKEWOOD — With first place on the line in the Cascade Conference, the Sultan wrestling team got two outstanding performances from the most unlikely of places to defeat Lakewood 39-34 on Thursday night.
Two freshmen wrestlers, Nicholas Sorgen at 120 pounds and Hunter Sather at 126, both were moved up to varsity this week and both won impressive victories early in Thursday’s match to help the Turks to the victory.
Sorgen had to come from behind to earn his victory over Lakewood’s Hunter Olson. Olson led by as many as seven points at 10-3, but Sorgen scored the final 12 points of the match to win 15-10 and bring Sultan to within three points at 6-3 after Lakewood’s Tommie Mosteller won the opening match by forfeit.
“It definitely kind of shocked me,” Sultan head coach Garth MacDicken said of Sorgen’s comeback over Olson. “I knew he kind of had it in him, but we were definitely a little shocked by it. He came back and we said, ‘hey you’ve got to survive the flurry in the first round because he is going to be a strong kid and we know he is a decent wrestler and just stick with your basics and look for your opportunities in the third (period).’ And that’s what happened for him.
“I’m very proud of him.”
As if one freshman victory wasn’t enough, Sather followed up Sorgen’s victory by pinning Lakewood’s Matthew Studzinski to give Sultan a 9-6 lead. MacDicken said that was a turning point in the match.
“Right after that 126 pound match, when Hunter Sather our other freshman stepped in, that was a huge pivotal (match),” MacDicken said. “We knew we had a very good shot at winning after that freshman came through and won that match for us. We kind of knew where we could win or lose going down the line and that was probably the most pivotal match for us.”
The Turks briefly relinquished the lead when Lakewood’s Jeff Harrison scored a major decision over James Boglivi at 170 pounds giving the Cougars a 22-21 lead. Sultan answered back with pins from Charlie Johnson (182 pounds) and Jake Naslund (195 pounds) to give Sultan a 33-22 lead. The final three matches of the night ended in forfeits, two by Sultan and one by Lakewood to make up the final score of 39-34.
MacDicken said the Lakewood match had been a major focus of his team all week.
“It’s a really big win for us,” he said. “We had been talking about it all week. We had been working really hard in practice and having really hard practices. We knew kind of where we would have to get some wins and we were working on moves for those kids and they worked really hard and stepped up when their chance arose.”
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on twitter @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
106—Katie Kortekaas (L) won by forfeit; 113—Tommie Mosteller (L) won by forfeit; 120—Hunter Olsen (L) dec. Nicholas Soigen 15-10; 126—Hunter Santher (S) pinned Mattheu Studzinski; 132—James MccKinzie (S) pinned Brendan Lawton; 138—Drake Mostellar (L) pinned Jacob Bullweber; 145—Cameron Wheeler (L) dec. Ryan Sharp 12-6; 152—Jason Barrus (S) pinned Jeremy Peterson; 160—Gage Gilbertson (L) dec. Jack Boyd 4-2; 170—Jeff Harrison (L) maj. dec. James Boglivi 11-1; 182—Charlie Johnson (S) pinned Travis Eddy; 195—Jake Naslund (S) pinned Tug Giorgio; 220—Taylor Comfort (S) won by forfeit; 285—Tristan Nelson (L) won by forfeit. Records—Sultan 3-0 league, 6-0 overall. Lakewood 2-1, 6-2.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
