Snohomish wrestlers slam rival Glacier Peak
Published 10:41 pm Tuesday, January 20, 2015
SNOHOMISH — The way Snohomish wrestling coach Kevin Judkins saw it, his team’s showdown with Glacier Peak on Tuesday night was likely to be close and go down to the wire.
Not only that, Judkins figured the Panthers needed a couple of upsets along the way to beat their cross-district rivals.
Which is exactly what happened. After dropping two of the first three matches (the meet started at 120 pounds), Snohomish won seven of the next eight — including a couple of victories in bouts Judkins thought could go either way — for a 42-30 non-conference win at Snohomish High School.
“We wrestled really well where we needed to,” Judkins said. “There were two swing matches at 160 and 170, and we got both of them. That was the big difference.”
At 160, Snohomish’s Colton Sturlaugson eked out a 3-1 decision against Glacier Peak’s Micah Palmaffy. Sturlaugson led 2-1 after one period and 3-1 through two periods, and then held on through a scoreless third period.
At a Marysville tournament last weekend, Palmaffy defeated Sturlaugson in a close match, “so we came back and avenged that loss,” Judkins said. “It was a (close) match on Saturday and it was a two-point match tonight, but it swung the other way.”
At 170, Snohomish’s Mark Currier posted an 11-5 decision against Glacier Peak’s Ian Jensen, breaking open a match that was 4-3 through two periods.
“We hadn’t wrestled (Jensen),” Judkins said, “but we knew it was going to be a challenge. So that was another six-point swing, and that was pretty much the difference in the match, those two.”
At 195, Snohomish’s Peder Morrill scored a first-period pin against Glacier Peak’s Griffin Thomas, who was wrestling up one weight class.
“(Thomas) is a quality wrestler,” Judkins said, “but Peder went out (and won). And I think that kind of deflated (the Grizzlies) when we went out and pinned one of their better kids.”
The night’s most back-and-forth match was at 126, where Snohomish’s Conner Snow and Glacier Peak’s Hunter Cabrera each had the upper hand at times. But in the third period Snow took command and ended up pinning with 1:07 remaining.
For Judkins, the match led to a mix of emotions. After coaching at Lynnwood High School (1987-2002) and Snohomish (2002-08), he left high school coaching until this season when he returned to fill a coaching void at Snohomish. But he is a math teacher at Glacier Peak, and in recent years he coached some of the Grizzlies at nearby Valley View Middle School.
It was, he admitted with a grin, “kind of a no-win situation for me. … It was a hard night because I teach at Glacier Peak and then have to coach against them.”
The Panthers, 14-3 in dual meets to date, have three remaining dual meets on their schedule. At this point, Judkins said, “our goal is to get healthy. … Right now, most wrestling coaches are
just trying to get healthy for the postseason, and that’s what we’re looking at on top of trying to get better.”
Glacier Peak coach Bryan Mossburg declined to comment after the meet.
At Snohomish H.S.
106—Dillan Meyer (S) pinned Morgan Beard 1:39; 113—Josh Vail (GP) pinned Matt Doran 0:50; 120—Tim Mandzyuk (GP) pinned Diana Rodriguez 1:24; 126—Conner Snow (S) pinned Hunter Cabrera 4:53; 132—Aidan McDonald (GP) pinned Joessie Gonzales 1:24; 138—Wyatt Butler (S) tech. fall Mason Fairbanks 17-2; 145—Noah Bomar (S) maj. dec. Ricky Kranz 12-1; 152—Joseph Proffit (S) dec. Mats Haneburg 6-0; 160—Colton Sturlaugson (S) dec. Micah Palmaffy 3-1; 170—Mark Currier (S) dec. Ian Jensen 11-5; 182—Jason Lindsay (GP) pinned Miguel Rodriguez 1:29; 195—Peder Morrill (S) pinned Griffin Thomas 0:45; 220—Alex Fairhurst (S) pinned Sam Clipper 0:58; 285—Mosese Fifita (GP) won by disqualification over Wyatt Gardner; Records—Glacier Peak 13-2 overall. Snohomish 14-3.
