Lakeside, Wv Win Tourneys
The Lakeside Eagles won early and often to run away with the District 7-A/B wrestling tourney title at Deer Park High Saturday.
Lakeside scored in 10 of 13 weights, winning three championships and scoring 220.5 points. Riverside was second with 150.
“What happened was our depth,” said Lakeside coach Scott Jones. The Eagles advanced 11 placers and two alternates to regionals while winning championships at 122, 129 and 135 pounds. The second-place Rams advanced eight placers and one alternate.
Defending state champion Henry Peterson of Riverside had his hands full with Chris Padayao of Lakeside at 115 pounds, but never trailed in the match en route to a 7-2 win and the 115-pound championship.
In the 129-pound championship, Lakeside’s Ben Orth upset Clint Umbach of Deer Park, who was the runner-up at state last year, 7-4. Orth scored a near fall in the second round and a reversal in the third round to hold off Umbach.
In a tight match at 168 pounds, Matt Morin of Riverside came from behind to beat Mike Smith of Ritzville for the championship. Morrin entered the third round trailing 4-3, but got a early reversal and late takedown to win 6-4.
At 178 pounds, Alex Schulz of Deer Park showed why he is the defending state champion. Schulz took a 2-0 lead into the second round and then came up with a barrage of moves in the final two periods to defeat Jason Schneider of Davenport 12-3 and capture the No. 1 seeding to regionals.
Lakeside’s Bart Orth was able to advance to regionals despite recovering from a fractured fibula suffered four weeks ago at the University High tournament. Orth, who was a sixth-place finisher at state last year and 15-0 this year, was able to hobble into his first-round match and pin Jason Galbraith of Reardan.
In the second round, Orth met up with freshman teammate Aaron Laughery. Laughery decided to purposely forfeit the match and give Orth a free ride into the finals. Orth injury-defaulted to Terry Haney of Newport and will be the second seed to regionals. Laughery fought his way through the consolation bracket and will be the third seed at 148 pounds.
“Aaron basically said you’re a senior and here’s your shot. Go for it. I’ll go and bet ‘em and see what I can do,” Jones said. “It brings a smile to your face and warms you up inside.”
NEA teams dominated the Bi-County, winning 10 of 13 titles and taking the top six team spots.
The regional tournament is Friday and Saturday at Chelan High.
AA: Champions Quinn Sharpe (101), Aaron Lehinger (115) and Jeremy Thornton (135) led West Valley to the team title at the District 7-AA tourney at Pullman.
WV, which finished second in the Frontier League, scored 166.5 points to the 150 of runner-up East Valley - the league champ. Troy Campbell (148) won EV’s only individual title.
Pullman won a tourney-best four weights and finished third.
The top three in each weight division advance to the Region IV-AA tournament, Friday and Saturday at Selah. WV and EV sent nine apiece, Pullman seven.
No. 1 seeds won 9 of the 13 titles. The exceptions were Cheney’s Johny Williams (122), Colville’s Jame Lontz (129), Clarkston’s Cory Thivierge (178) and Pullman’s Bill Hinz (190).