Wrestler Takes Match In The Clutch
If nothing else, Mead wrestler Joel Edminster has a flair for the dramatic.
The Panther senior kept his coaches and fans on edge last week, trailing his Central Valley opponent 10-2 after a round.
In the second period he rode his foe to little avail before his arm bar and half-nelson move resulted in a pin with 16 seconds left.
“I’ve got a bad habit of waiting until the second or third round before I get started,” said Edminster, a lanky 148-pounder.
“It happened last year and the year before,” Edminster said. “It’s hard to get rid of it.”
Edminster ran his Greater Spokane League record to 2-0 with the stunning pin, but the Panthers lost the match to Central Valley.
The Mead senior has made incremental 20-pound weight jumps each of his three varsity seasons at Mead, beginning as a 108-pound sophomore, and is still looking for his first regional appearance.
He’s one of six Panther wrestlers who are unbeaten in league, four of them at 2-0.
Surprising North Central entered Wednesday’s match at CV with a 2-0 record and 10 unbeaten wrestlers, seven of them with two wins.
Among them is Brian Largent, who upset last weekend’s Hillyard M-II Mallet 135-pound champion, Rogers’ James Dawe, 8-4 in their 141-pound match.
Trailing early, Largent scored a takedown and three-point near fall late in the first round and then matched Dawe’s third-period reversal.
Rogers won the M-II Mallet with 191 points to Mead’s 160.5 and Shadle’s 129. Pirate Darren Steeneck was the 129-pound champion.
The Rogers team also had five second-place finishers.
Mead had three champions: Isaac Franklin at 168 pounds, Eric Strom at 178 and Steve Fish at 215.
Shadle Park league unbeatens Shawn Howard at 122 and Sabino Hernandez at 190 also won titles.
Gonzaga Prep’s unbeaten GSL team won the East Valley Invitational with 203 points, winning four championships and having two second places, five thirds and a fourth-place finisher.
Lakeside of the Northeast A League placed second with 185.5 points, including champion Nate Bohl at 148, three seconds, three thirds and four fourths.
Key game for North Side teams
Greater Spokane League basketball teams North Central and Mead play at 3:45 p.m. today at the Arena, concluding a week important to both.
The Indians, who had won their opener, lost Tuesday night to Gonzaga Prep Tuesday in their first important league test.
Mead evened its league record at 1-1 by beating Lewis and Clark.
Thus today’s game has obvious implications for teams hoping to stay in the thick of a cluttered race.
One week into the season, eight of nine teams had at least one loss, including Shadle Park’s boys, whose Tuesday victory over University left them tied for second at 2-1.
By contrast, in girls basketball three teams were unbeaten after a week and had the early advantage.
Included is Shadle Park, which defeated Rogers, NC and University without third-year varsity player JoEne Heimbigner.
She suffered neck injuries when a car she was driving was struck in the rear while stopped for traffic congestion.
In her absence veteran Kelli Pilkington, sophomore newcomers Emily Christensen and Sara Harchuck and first-year varsity junior Joy Potter scored in double figures.
Attemping to stay with the leaders, Shadle plays Lewis and Clark tonight at 8, two days after its third straight league victory.
, DataTimes