EVERETT — In the first match of a double dual on Thursday at Cascade High School, the Jackson wrestling team did what no other Wesco 4A team could for eight years — beat Lake Stevens.
Jackson tied the Vikings 37 apiece after the match’s 14 bouts, winning via tiebreaker criteria.
Under revamped high school rules, the first criterion is unsportsmanlike conduct calls, and Lake Stevens was assessed one such penalty during the match without any being whistled on the Timberwolves.
It is the first Wesco 4A defeat for Lake Stevens since the Vikings lost at Snohomish on Jan. 17, 2008, nearly eight years to the day to when Jackson knocked off the nine-time 4A state champions.
“We’ve been building and improving each year,” said Jackson coach Sherm Iversen, who was a Lake Stevens assistant for four years earlier in his career. “Sometimes it really depends on how you line up with the other team, and we just had a lot of kids wrestle really well and we got a lot of pins.”
Did they ever — each team registered five victories via pinfall in the match.
In fairness to the Vikings, three-time state champion Michael Soler and returning state finalist Jake Douglas were out of action for Lake Stevens on Thursday, and head coach Brent Barnes also missed the match due to illness.
Iversen said Barnes texted his congratulations after the Timberwolves’ win.
“The Lake Stevens wrestlers and coaches wrestled really tough and were really respectful. We appreciated that,” Iversen said.
The match started at 160 pounds, and Lake Stevens’ Angelo Loera pinned Sam Jenkins to get things started.
Senior tri-captain Bradley Martin knotted the score at six with a pin of his own for Jackson, but Malachi Lawrence decked Garrett Miller to answer for Lake Stevens, making it 12-6.
Jackson took early control of the match in the upper weights, as Johnny Navarro, Jose Viayra and Tyler Bennett registered consecutive pins at 195, 220 and 285 pounds for the Timberwolves.
In dual-meet losses to Tahoma and Moses Lake this season, the upper weights have been problematic for the Vikings, who are starting inexperienced wrestlers at those spots.
In all three duals, including Thursday’s, Lake Stevens has lost via pinfall at all three upper weights.
The Vikings regained control and even took the lead in the lower weights, as Jake Bennett (106) and Nate Scilley (126) bookended a four-bout run for Lake Stevens that yielded 19 points and gave it a 31-24 advantage.
Jackson roared back to tie the match at 31 after Cole Anderson picked up a 12-1 major decision over Talon Tate at 132 and Trevor Cook beat Lake Stevens freshman Isaac Gust 5-2 at 138.
Tristan Weisser’s first-period pin at 145 pounds gave the Timberwolves a 37-31 lead heading into the last bout of the match, where Lake Stevens standout Trysten Perales squared off with Dartagnan Phan of Jackson.
“Dartagnan was a regional participant last year and has been getting better all year, and he knew that if he didn’t get pinned, we win the dual,” Iversen said.
But against Perales, a Tri-State finalist, a placer at the Doc Buchanan Invitational in California as well as a returning Mat Classic placer, that’s exactly what happened.
Phan was pinned with just :16 remaining in the bout to forge a tie.
“Dartagnan was doing a heck of a job when he got knocked over to a hip, and Perales threw him on his back and pinned him,” Iversen said.
The two teams paced anxiously while match official Shawn O’Donnell consulted his rule book to go through the criteria.
The process was hampered by the fact that Cascade’s gym only had the team score for the Bruins’ dual with Monroe — happening concurrently with Lake Stevens-Jackson — showing on the gym scoreboard.
The Jackson-Lake Stevens match only had a smaller digital scoreboard showing the results of each match.
“At first, they were all slightly shocked to realize that we were in it like that,” Iversen said.
So nobody in the crowd had any idea that the teams were tied after 14 bouts unless they were keeping score themselves.
When the final decision came, the Jackson bench went predictably bonkers.
“The guys went crazy,” Iversen said. “They were pretty excited, but I kept telling them that we had another dual to wrestle. Monroe’s tough.”
In another tight contest, the Timberwolves defeated the Bearcats 39-36, with Phan closing it out this time with a pin at 160 pounds.
“It definitely gives the guys more confidence heading into districts,” Iversen said of the historic sweep.
At Cascade H.S.
106—Jake Bennett (LS) pinned Ryan Slavin 1:43; 113—Riley Headland (LS) pinned Alex Bayer 1:31; 120—Kyle LaCoursiere (LS) maj. dec. Clayton Brush 12-2; 126—Nate Scilley (LS) dec. Jacob Austin 7-4; 132—Cole Anderson (J) maj. dec. Talon Tate 12-1; 138—Trevor Cook (J) dec. Isaac Gust 5-2; 145—Tristan Weisser (J) pinned Ryan 1:02; 152—Trysten Perales (LS) pinned Dartagnan Phan 5:44; 160—Angelo Loera (LS) pinned Sam Jenkins :59; 170—Bradley Martin (J) pinned McCally :36; 182—Malachi Lawrence (LS) pinned Garrett Miller 1:01; 195—Johnny Navarro (J) pinned Mitch Firth 3:01; 220—Jose Viayra (J) pinned Ryne Pearson 1:03; 285—Tyler Bennett (J) pinned Seth Reyna :24.
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