Vikings smack down Panthers
Published 11:24 pm Friday, January 9, 2009
SNOHOMISH — Facing your fears is nerve-wracking, but in the end it can be rewarding.
The Lake Stevens High School wrestling team returned to the place where nearly a year ago it endured a nightmarish defeat. But in its return to the Snohomish High gym, Lake Stevens reasserted its dominance.
Propelled by victories in nine of the final 10 matches, Class 4A top-ranked Lake Stevens toppled the third-ranked Snohomish Panthers 50-21 Friday in a well-attended Western Conference North Division meet.
Last season Snohomish beat Lake Stevens 34-18. The loss on Jan. 17, 2008 ended Lake Stevens’ league dual-meet winning streak, which lasted about 15 years and included 117 consecutive wins.
“I liked the fact that we had to come back over here,” Lake Stevens head coach Brent Barnes said. “It was a good challenge for our guys because most of these guys were on that team last year. That’s important to kind of face your fears a little bit.”
Snohomish (2-1 Wesco North, 5-2 overall) led 15-6 after four matches thanks in part to pins by Sam Ottow (130 pounds) and Stefan St. Marie (135 pounds). But Lake Stevens’ Jacob Anderson (145 pounds) got a pin in the next bout, the first of five consecutive wins for Lake Stevens (3-0, 5-0).
Justin Grow capped the spurt with a 6-5 decision over Spencer Caraballo. It gave Lake Stevens, the two-time defending 4A state champion, a commanding 30-15 advantage.
“I was so impressed. Tonight was a perfect win for us, out of all the matches we’ve had,” said Grow.
Last year, Caraballo pinned Grow in Snohomish’s upset triumph, so Grow was understandably thrilled to made bounce back. Grow, previously 0-3 against Caraballo, said when he realized he won, “It felt like my heart exploded. I leaped for joy and … I thought I was going to cry.”
Lake Stevens benefited from two Snohomish forfeits, worth six points apiece. Snohomish also didn’t have its usual 285-pounder, Jake Reinhard, who is out for the season because of a knee injury. Did any of it make a difference in the result?
“Probably with the guys we that we had missing out of the lineup, that didn’t affect the outcome,” Snohomish head coach Rob Zabel said. “With the way (Lake Stevens is) wrestling right now they’re going to beat us regardless.”
Jack Stilwell bumped up a weight class to 125 and started the meet by pinning his Snohomish opponent. Besides Anderson’s pin at 145, Blake Le Huquet (171 pounds) and Josh Heinzer (119 pounds) also had pins for Lake Stevens.
Heinzer, a 2008 individual state champ, went up a weight class and capped Lake Stevens’ big night with a pin 13 seconds into the third period.
Looking beyond the team score, both coaches called it a great night for their sport. Despite local flooding and frustrating road conditions, fans filled about three-fourths of the bleachers and were consistently loud throughout the meet.
“It’s great for our kids and I’m sure they enjoyed it,” coach Barnes said. “Just to be a part of this atmosphere when you have a lot of people — you don’t get that every day.”
“The crowd was awesome. Our kids fed off of it for awhile,” said coach Zabel. “We had a nice little run at the start and just weren’t able to maintain momentum.”
At Snohomish H.S.
125-Stilwell (LS) pinned Machado 1:30; 130-Ottow (S) pinned Walkley 3:59; 135-St. Marie (S) pinned Johnson 4:15; 140-Perry (S) dec. BJ Alewine 5-3; 145-J. Anderson (LS) pinned Kuehn 2:26; 152-G. King (LS) won by forfeit; 160-Welch (LS) dec. Mi. Morrill 7-6; 171-Le Huquet (LS) pinned Ma. Morrill 4:59; 189-Grow (LS) dec. Caraballo 6-5; 215-Britton (S) pinned Dinh 2:24; 285-Teuber (LS) major decision Maybin 11-3; 103-Rodorigo (LS) major decision Bates-Mundell 14-1; 112-Smith (LS) won by forfeit; 119-Heinzer (LS) pinned Kalmey 4:13.
Records-Lake Stevens 3-0 in division, 5-0 overall. Snohomish 2-1, 5-2.
Writer Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.
