Archbishop Murphy ready for postseason
Published 11:54 am Monday, March 3, 2008
As his team enters the Cascade Conference and district tournament tomorrow on its home mat, Archbishop Murphy wrestling coach Blaine Gilchrist-Smith is as optimistic as he’s ever been.
“I think it will be a fun tournament,” Gilchrist-Smith said. “Anything can happen. We like to think we’ll be competing for the top spot.”
The Wildcats finished third in the conference with a 3-2 record, 9-5 overall, the best marks the team has posted in its four-year existence.
Archbishop Murphy ended the season with wins over Shorewood (52-26) and Shorecrest (45-31) on Jan. 24 at Shorecrest and dominated Lakeside 65-6 on Jan. 25.
Cedarcrest and South Whidbey were the top two teams in the conference going into a Jan. 31 meet to determine the conference championship after the Enterprise’s deadlines.
Gilchrist-Smith likes his wrestlers’ chances at districts.
“We’ve got a full lineup for the first time in our history which is nice,” Gilchrist-Smith said. “I think everybody has a chance of advancing (to regionals).”
Some of the contenders on the young Wildcat team figure to be sophomore Keegan Kruse at 215 pounds, freshman Brad Gee at 171, junior Zeke Evers at 189, senior Peter Stampher at 140, sophomore Brett de Chadenedes at 112 and freshman Jeremy Wattam at 103.
“We’ve got some kids that will place in the top four,” Smith said. “Brad certainly has a chance to win it.”
Senior Jack Reeves, a 130-pounder, has missed the last two matches because of a knee injury but could be ready to wrestle at districts.
“Hope he’s well enough to go,” Gilchrist-Smith said. “If he is, he has a real good chance of going on.”
Since Gilchrist-Smith started the Wildcat program four years ago, Archbishop Murphy’s only state participant has been Joe Suchan in 2004. Suchan was a regional champion at 135 pounds.
Saturday’s meet starts at 10 a.m. The top four advance to the regional tournament in Mount Vernon Feb. 10. The fourth seed from the Cascade Conference wrestles a pigtail match with the fifth seed from the Northwest 2A League to get into the regional bracket.
