Snohomish wrestlers rally to upend Kamiak
Published 11:17 pm Saturday, December 4, 2010
SNOHOMISH — All wrestlers picture the scenario that their entire team’s fate rests on their shoulders with a team win or a loss hanging in the balance of their own individual match.
Snohomish’s Sonny Bates-Mundell was no different Friday night. With the junior grappler’s team leading by just three points heading into his 112-pound match, he knew he needed a win for a Panthers’ victory.
“I’ve been thinking about that (scenario) for a long time,” Bates-Mundell said.
He didn’t disappoint the fans that came out to Snohomish high school for the opening dual meet of the season. He defeated Kamiak’s Josh Heitzman with a technical fall in the third period to give the Panthers a 38-30 triumph.
“That was a lot like I envisioned it happening,” a quiet but confident Bates-Mundell said.
The lightest and the heaviest wrestlers for the Panthers came through in the end to help overtake an aggressive Kamiak team that jumped out to a 24-6 advantage after the first six matches.
In the night’s second to last match, defending heavyweight state qualifier Mike Maybin pinned his opponent to set up Bates-Mundell’s heroics.
“Coach said it was up to me and our little guy,” Maybin said.
Kamiak’s Khrystian Clark came at Maybin like a charging bull at the opening whistle and looked like he might take a points lead before the two wrestlers fell out of bounds. Maybin recovered quickly to pin the hefty Knight in the first period.
“I love competition,” Maybin said. “I love for a guy to throw his best at me.”
Maybin was happy to finally get a chance to fight on the mat after weeks of practice.
“We’ve been beating up on each other in practice for weeks,” he said. “I love getting out there and competing. If a guy beats me that’s fine because it means I’ll come back and work harder.”
It was certainly a valiant effort for Kamiak, ranked 20th in the Washington coaches association preseason poll, against 12th-ranked Snohomish, the state runner up from a year ago. Kamiak coach Trace Regan was proud of the way his Knights competed.
“We had them on the ropes and couldn’t get it done.” Regan said.
Snohomish coach Rob Zabel gained a few gray hairs, but never lost faith in his team.
“I don’t think ‘nervous’ is the right word, just anxious,” Zabel said. “They came out and put a whooping on some of our guys.”
Kamiak’s Joe Krafft opened the night with a first-period pin of Garrett Pope at 119 pounds and Zach Regan pinned Trevor Coffman at 125 pounds to give Kamiak the quick 12-0 lead.
“Our standpoint was to come out and be physical,” coach Regan said after watching both of his sons Zach and Nate record pins on the evening. “We knew that the matchups later on weren’t in our favor and that we had to get a big lead.”
Those matchups were two defending state qualifiers in Maybin and Luke Perry as well as Michah Morrill, who finished third in state for the Panthers last season.
Perry trailed 3-2 late in his match with Jonas Linari before rallying to take a 9-4 decision. Morrill pinned Dillon Starkenburg to begin swinging the momentum back to the Panthers.
“I was really pleased across the board of our efforts,” Zabel said. “Nathan Proffit didn’t win but he wrestled real tough for us.”
Proffit, a sophomore, trailed 5-1 after two periods and rallied in the third to within one throw of tying the match before succumbing to Brandon Hall 8-6.
There won’t be much time to rest or celebrate for the Panthers, who jump right into matches with Rodgers (Puyallup) and second-ranked Tahoma. Snohomish gets its first look at defending state champ Lake Stevens as well, but the rivals won’t clash until further down the line. The Vikings also take on Rodgers and Tahoma.
At Snohomish H.S.
103 — Swetz (S) won via forfeit
112 — Bates-Mundell (S) won via Technical Fall. Heitzman 16-1
119 — Krafft (K) pinned Pope
125 — Z. Regan (K) pinned Coffman
130 — Kalmey (S) pinned Graika
135 — Hammond(K) dec. Machado 7-3
140 — Riem (K) dec. A. Morrill 4-3
145 — N. Regan (K) pinned Mitchell
152 — Perry (S) dec. Linaria 9-4
160 — M. Morrill (S) pinned Starkenburg
171 — Bentley (K) dec. Thody 6-4
189 — M. Morrill (S) pinned Welsh
215 — Hall (K) dec. Profit 8-6
285 — Maybin(S) pinned Clark
Records—Kamiak 0-1 overall, Snohomish 1-0.
