Vikings beat Cubs

SEDRO-WOOLLEY – Sedro-Woolley High School is in the midst of one of the greatest wrestling dynasties in Washington state history.

However, the one obstacle the Cubs can’t seem to overcome is the Lake Stevens Vikings.

Lake Stevens defeated Sedro-Woolley head-to-head for the second straight year, cruising to a 36-24 victory Saturday night in a nonleague dual meet between arguably the top two programs in the state.

“It’s a big accomplishment,” Lake Stevens coach Brent Barnes said. ” (Sedro-Woolley) is the premier program in the state. You can look up at the ceiling and see all the banners, so this is a big deal. It means a lot to our kids.”

Before a packed house, the unsung Josh Eacrett provided the spark that led the Vikings to victory. Lake Stevens ended up winning nine of the 14 matches against the five-time defending Class 3A state champions.

“This feels awesome,” Lake Stevens captain Kelly Kubec said. “Last year (when Lake Stevens prevailed 35-25) we probably had a team that matched up better against them. This year we outwrestled them.”

The key for Lake Stevens was a stretch of five matches between 130 pounds and 152, all of which the Vikings won.

And although it was Kubec who began the run with a 25-10 technical fall over Kevin O’Neil at 130, it was Eacrett who provided the decisive moment.

Sedro-Woolley held a slim 12-11 lead when the 135-pound match arrived. Eacrett, who usually backs up Kubec at 130, was bumped up a weight to go against Sedro-Woolley’s Sammy Bisbey – a state placer last season – thus allowing the Vikings to have more-favorable matchups later in the meet.

However, Eacrett turned strategy on its head. He hung with Bisbey early, then pulled away late, registering a late near fall en route to an 8-4 victory that caused the Lake Stevens bench to erupt in celebration.

“Eacrett winning that match was huge,” Barnes said. “That was something I don’t think they were expecting. Because of that we were able to bump guys up to 140 and 145 where I thought we had a better chance.”

Eacrett’s win created a huge momentum swing in Lake Stevens’ favor as the Vikings won six of the next seven matches to put the meet away. Darren McGuire’s 5-1 victory at 189 officially clinched it for Lake Stevens, making for an anticlimactic final two matches.

Sedro-Woolley, coming off a victory at the prestigious Tri-State Invitational the previous weekend, appeared a bit fatigued. The Cubs won three of the first four matches to grab a 12-6 lead, but won just two of the final 10.

“The bottom line is Barnes’ and my coaching styles are exactly the same,” Sedro-Woolley coach Jay Breckenridge said. “It’s who wants to win, who’s trained hard enough to win, who is willing to go out there and lay it all on the line to win. Tonight it was Lake Stevens.”

The margin of victory was a surprise as the general consensus was it would go down to the wire. Barnes figured the matches would split 7-7 with the meet decided by pins. To that end, Barnes even sacrificed Zach Zweiful, moving the state placer up from 103 to 112 to try and prevent a Sedro-Woolley pin (it didn’t work). But those machinations proved unnecessary.

“I think either way these are the top two teams in the state, tournament or duel,” Kubec said. “It’s hard to say where it would end up. It just comes down to who’s better on that day.”

Two Lake Stevens wrestlers recorded pins. Jack Stilwell, Zweiful’s replacement at 103, made sure the Vikings still received maximum points by pinning Cody Forst in 3 minutes, 12 seconds. Then Mitch Tipton recorded an important pin at 145, knocking off Randal Nersten in 3:36.

Sedro-Woolley received pins from its two defending state champs, Derek Crouter (112) taking down Zweiful in 5:27 and Michael Lomsdalen (160) pinning Jake Welch in 0:32. Also, heavyweight Bubba Bragg pinned Zach Tueber in 4:26.

The meet’s most entertaining match occurred after the meet had already been decided, Lake Stevens’ Blake Austin won a back-and-forth encounter against Jordan Frisbee 14-12 in overtime.

At Sedro-Woolley

103-Stilwell (LS) pinnned Forst, 3:12.

112-Crouter (SW) pinned Zweiful, 5:27.

119-Hunt (SW) dec. Anderson, 4-2.

125-Garcia (SW) dec. Pelligrini, 14-8.

130-Kubec (LS) tech. fall O’Neil, 25-10.

135-Eacrett (LS) dec. Bisbey, 8-4.

140-Monson (LS) dec. Pohren, 5-2.

145-Tipton (LS) pinned Nersten, 3:36.

152-King (LS) dec. Aufderheide, 5-2.

160-Lomsdalen (SW) pinned Welch, 0:32.

171-Hugnes (LS) maj. dec. Eaton, 12-2.