Prep wrestling: Moses Lake 47, Lake Stevens 27
Published 10:23 pm Tuesday, December 30, 2014
MOSES LAKE — For the first time in a long while, the Lake Stevens wrestling team entered a dual meet as the underdog on Tuesday night.
The Vikings traveled across the mountains to face Moses Lake in a matchup of powerhouses that finished 1-2 in the Class 4A team standings at Mat Classic last February.
Moses Lake claimed a 47-27 victory at home, but Lake Stevens coach Brent Barnes said the loss exposed weaknesses that he and his staff can address in the practice room.
“We have a ways to go,” Barnes said. “There are some things that we need to fix, and fortunately we have some time to get back in the room and do that, but there are some areas that we’re a little deficient at right now. But knowledge is power, and we learned some things about ourselves tonight.”
Perhaps the most anticipated bout of the evening came at 120 pounds, as defending Class 4A 103-pound state champion Trey Long of Moses Lake took on Ty Headland of Lake Stevens, the seventh-place finisher last year at 113.
Long took a 6-3 decision, and Barnes said Headland’s inability to score first loomed large in the defeat.
“We gave up a critical first takedown, and the last two times they’ve wrestled that’s happened,” Barnes said. “We can’t give up our legs, and it’s something that we’re going to have to fix. We had some opportunities to score that we didn’t take. They’ve made some adjustments to us, and we have to make our adjustments too.”
Lake Stevens standouts Michael Soler, Jake Douglas and Cody Vigoren all recorded victories over their Moses Lake opponents on Tuesday, with Douglas and Vigoren notching pinfalls.
Barnes also lauded freshman 152-pounder Malachi Lawrence, who earned a pin over the Chiefs’ Bailey Sanchez on Tuesday.
“Malachi has done a really great job and worked extremely hard in practice,” Barnes said. “It has been rare for freshmen to start for us at those middle weights, but he’s a pretty physical and seasoned freshman.”
Barnes raved about the atmosphere inside the Moses Lake gym for this high-powered matchup.
“It was great. It was packed and they were one of the best crowds we’ve competed in front of in a long time,” he said. “Moses Lake has the best tradition in the state, and it was a great experience for our kids to wrestle in front of all of those people who care so much about the sport and know so much about the sport.”
At Moses Lake H.S.
106—Jesus Cornejo (ML) won by forfeit; 113—Christian Knpp (ML) def. Gino Loera 4-0; 120—Trey Long (ML) def. Ty Headland 6-3; 126—Cooper McCullough (ML) def. Garrett Gershmel; 132—Michael Soler (LS) def. Hunter Cruz 12-5; 138—Jake Douglas (LS) pinned Spencer Vela; 145—Trysten Perales (LS) pinned Davis Phillips; 152—Malachi Lawrence (LS) pinned Bailey Sanchez; 160—Joel Torres (ML) def. Ty Stacy 8-1; 170—Hudson Mauseth (ML) pinned Danny Sagiao; 182—Easton Castro (ML) pinned Body Scott; 195—Nico Hernandez (ML) pinned Mason Beaver; 220—Cody Vigoren (LS) pinned Dylan Morris; 285—Justin Sainsbury (ML) pinned Dylan Hutchinson. Records—Lake Stevens 4-1 overall. Moses Lake 4-0.
