SNOHOMISH — It took about 15 years and 118 matches, but someone finally stomped The Streak.
It’s perfectly fitting that Kevin Judkins was there to enjoy it.
The Snohomish Panthers wrestling team, coached by Judkins, did something Thursday that no squad had accomplished since 1993: Beat the powerful Lake Stevens Vikings in a league dual meet.
Jake Reinhard (285 pounds) clinched it with a decision in the second-to-last match for unbeaten Snohomish, which won 34-18 and gave previously undefeated Lake Stevens its first division loss since Lynnwood edged the Vikings in 1993.
Back then, Judkins coached Lynnwood. To put the time gap in perspective, most of his current Snohomish wrestlers were just 1 or 2 years old.
It took a near-perfect effort to topple Lake Stevens again.
“We wrestled unbelievable. We wrestled the best we could have wrestled tonight,” Judkins said.
Despite forfeiting the 160-pound match, which gave Lake Stevens six free points and an 18-12 lead, Snohomish (7-0 in Western Conference North division meets) rallied past the Vikings (6-1) and won the final five matches.
With one league meet to go, Snohomish has the inside track on earning the Wesco North championship and ending Lake Stevens’ quest for its 19th-consecutive league title.
“There’s so many mixed emotions going through my body right now. I don’t even know how to feel,” Reinhard said. “I came off the mat with tears in my eyes.”
Immediately following his meet-clinching 3-1 decision, Reinhard ran to the edge of the mat and gave Judkins a hearty hug while raucous Snohomish fans erupted with cheers.
Back-to-back first-round pins by Spencer Caraballo (189 pounds) and Derek Britton (215) gave Snohomish a 10-point lead, meaning Reinhard needed only a 3-point decision to clinch it.
“It was just so shocking. To beat a team like Lake Stevens with this kind of ability (is amazing),” Reinhard said. “I wouldn’t have been able to clinch it without my teammates.”
“It’s something all of us thought about since we were little kids,” said Caraballo, the 189-pounder who pinned Justin Grow with just 2 seconds to go in the first period. “I was 3 when they lost (to Lynnwood). It was a dream when we were little and it started getting more real. It’s like Christmas.”
The unforgettable present for Snohomish, ranked No. 7 in Class 4A by Washington Wrestling Report, was upsetting the top-ranked Vikings.
Last season the teams also entered their division battle undefeated, but Lake Stevens blasted Snohomish 48-6 and went on to win the 4A state championship, the Vikings’ fifth state team title since 1990.
Thursday’s match started with two Snohomish losses that actually felt like victories for the Panthers. Zach Zweifel (112 pounds), a 2007 state champion, and Jack Stilwell (119), a state runner-up last season, won 3-point decisions versus Eric Kalmey and Derek VanWyhe, respectively, instead of potentially earning pins, which are worth six points apiece.
“That’s a big boost for (Snohomish),” Lake Stevens coach Brent Barnes said. “For them to keep those losses down to decisions … is huge.”
After falling behind 6-0, Snohomish got on a big roll and surged into the lead. Sam Ottow (125) kicked off the spurt by edging Sean Anderson in overtime, 5-3. Ottow’s triumph was the first of four consecutive victories by decision for Snohomish, which led 12-6 through six matches.
Lake Stevens rallied and regained the lead but failed to keep it.
“I thought we had enough talent and ability to squeak out a victory tonight. I knew it was going to be extremely close,” Barnes said.
“(Snohomish) just wrestled really well tonight,” the Lake Stevens coach added. “They had a lot of energy, a lot more energy than we did, and seized the moment.”
At Snohomish H.S.
112—Zweifel (LS) dec. Kalmey, 8-1; 119—Stilwell (LS) dec. VanWyhe, 9-2; 125—Ottow (S) dec. S. Anderson, 5-3 OT; 130—L. Perry (S) dec. Austin, 4-3; 135—St. Marie (S) dec. Pellegrini, 6-2; 140—B. Perry (S) dec. Monson, 10-4; 145—Eacrett (LS) dec. Garcia, 8-5; 152—Souza (LS) dec. Dellino, 8-2; 160—King (LS) won by forfeit; 171—Reed (S) major dec. LeHuquet, 16-8; 189—Caraballo (S) pinned Grow, 1:58; 215—Britton (S) pinned Brown, 1:48; 285—Reinhard (S) dec. Teuber, 3-1; 103—Lucey (S) dec. Heinzer, 7-5. Records—Lake Stevens 6-1 in division, 9-1 overall. Snohomish 7-0, 13-0.
Contact Herald Writer Mike Cane at mcane@heraldnet.com. For more high school sports news, check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam.
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