Prep wrestling: No. 1 Lake Stevens seeks payback vs. No. 3 Snohomish

Published 10:53 pm Thursday, January 8, 2009

Can the Snohomish Panthers do it again?

That is the big question heading into tonight’s Lake Stevens versus Snohomish wrestling match. The Western Conference North Division dual meet between two of the state’s elite high school squads is arguably the marquee regular-season grappling event in Washington.

In the latest Washington Wrestling Report Class 4A team rankings Lake Stevens is No. 1 and Snohomish is No. 3. Expected to draw a huge crowd, the meet is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the Snohomish High main gym.

“They seem to be solid from top to bottom,” Lake Stevens head coach Brent Barnes said of Snohomish, “so we’ve got our hands full. They proved last year that they could do it.”

Not quite one year ago, on Jan. 17, 2008, Snohomish beat Lake Stevens 34-18, ending Lake Stevens’ well-known league dual meet winning streak that included 117 victories over a span of about 15 years. Snohomish went on to win the Wesco North dual-meet title but Lake Stevens earned its second straight 4A state team championship.

Rob Zabel, an assistant coach for Snohomish last season, is the Panthers’ first-year head coach. Snohomish wrestled almost flawlessly when it beat Lake Stevens in 2008 and it will take an even better performance to win again, Zabel said.

“Coming into it we know that we’re going to have to be ready because they’re going to be gunning for us this year,” he said. “Maybe last year we caught them a little bit by surprise.”

Both teams are loaded with quality wrestlers. Lake Stevens (2-0 Wesco North, 4-0 overall) is led by senior George King (152 pounds), junior Josh Heinzer (112 pounds) and senior Jack Stilwell (119 pounds). All three of them placed first in their respective weight divisions last month at the Tri-State Tournament in Idaho, which Lake Stevens won. King, who is unbeaten this season, and Heinzer won state titles last year.

Meanwhile, Snohomish (2-0, 5-1) has skilled seniors such as Sam Ottow (130 pounds) and Stefan St. Marie (135 pounds), who both earned second-place finishes at the 2008 state tournament and are undefeated so far this winter. Ottow and St. Marie were recently champions at the Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno.

“We’re wrestling well. Our kids are ready,” said Zabel.

Lake Stevens is healthy for the most part, Barnes said. That’s not the case for Snohomish, which won’t have its top heavyweight, senior Jake Reinhard. Reinhard, ranked No. 2 in 4A, tore knee ligaments during his final match at the Reno tournament and is out for the season, said Zabel.

Last season Reinhard clinched his team’s dual-meet triumph over Lake Stevens with a decision in the second-to-last bout.

Writer Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.