LAKE STEVENS – Kevin Judkins had the honor of coaching the Lynnwood Royals when they became the last Western Conference team to defeat the Lake Stevens Vikings in a dual meet.
That was in 1993.
Flash forward 13 years and Judkins had this to say going into a key match between his Snohomish Panthers and the juggernaut Vikings.
“It’s been a lot of years and they’re still tough,” Judkins noted.
Indeed, the Vikings made Snohomish their 100th consecutive Western Conference victim with a 36-15 North Division victory Wednesday night at the Lake Stevens gymnasium.
“It’s been a lot of kids and coaches who have put in a ton of hard work through the years,” Lake Stevens coach Brent Barnes said of the unbeaten streak.
Lake Stevens – which has won four state meet titles during Barnes’ 19 year tenure as coach – fell into a 15-6 hole against the fired-up Panthers, before rebounding with consecutive victories in the final eight bouts.
“That was not the plan,” Barnes said of the shaky start. “It’s not the way I wanted to start the match.”
The Panthers managed to stay off their backs, but the Vikings enjoyed consecutive technical fall victories by Kelly Kubec (140 pounds) and Kai VanLeuven (145) and a major decision by Kyle Hughes (152) to seize control of the meet.
“Kyle worked real hard,” Barnes said of Hughes who moved up a weight class. “Zach Burnett (normally 160) bumped up to 171 and did a nice job too.”
Burnett’s 10-4 victory by decision over the Panthers’ Matt Bonneywell put Lake Stevens in command 32-15.
In the opening bout, Blake Austin (215) used a first-round takedown and a near-fall in the waning seconds to subdue the Panthers’ Jake Reinhard, 5-0.
One of the highlight bouts occurred at 275. Despite Blu Shwartzmiller’s reversal with 15 seconds remaining in the final period, the Panthers’ Tanner Whitlock held on for an 8-7 decision.
Snohomish surged ahead two bouts later when Paul Thier (112) pinned his opponent 47 seconds into the first round and set the sizable contingent of visiting fans abuzz.
Gritty decisions by Mike McAuliffe (119) and Brad Perry (125) helped Snohomish build its lead.
But, the Vikings’ Andy Emmel (135) overcame a gutsy effort by Stefan St. Marie, 10-5, to turn the momentum in Lake Stevens’ favor.
At 140 the Vikings gained their first lead since the third bout, 17-15, when Kubec won by technical fall over Andrew St. Marie. VanLeuven followed with a technical fall win over Kyle Hurd, also late in the third period, and Lake seized a 22-15 advantage.
The Vikings clinched consecutive victory No. 100 when Billy Moehrle out-pointed Justin Gere in the 160 bout.
At Lake Stevens H.S.
215-Austin (LS) dec. Reinhard, 5-0; 275-Whitlock (S) dec. Shwartzmiller, 8-7; 103-Zweifel (LS) dec. Walsh, 6-2; 112-Thier (S) pin Alewine, :47; 119-McAuliffe (S) dec. Eacrett, 4-2; 125-Perry (S) dec. Tipton, 5-2; 130-Emmel (LS) dec. S. St. Marie, 10-5; 135-Monson (LS) dec. Walker, 6-2; 140-Kubec (LS) tech. fall A. St. Marie, 5:24; 145-VanLeuven (LS) tech. fall Hurd, 5:53; 152-Hughes (LS) maj. dec. Reed, 12-1; 160-Moehrle (LS) dec. Gere, 7-1; 171-Burnett (LS) dec. Bonneywell, 10-4; 189-Wilbourne (LS) maj. dec. Mundell, 15-3. Records-Snohomish 3-2 league, 5-2 overall. Lake Stevens 5-0, 6-0.
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