Ach Pair Goes Down In History
In the Highway 2 corridor, where basketball is king, a pair of Almira/Coulee-Hartline wrestlers have made history.
The pair, 275-pound Severin Walsh and 101-pound Jason Ogle, became the first ACH athletes to qualify for Mat Classic, the multi-classification state wrestling tournament.
And Walsh, amazingly agile for his size, earned the school’s first placing when he qualified for today’s semifinals.
Warriors coach Matt Cox calls it seeing the vision.
“For the most part, I help them see the vision,” he said. “Severin’s so dedicated. He’s the one who created the vision.”
Walsh is 33-0, a far cry from his 0-17 record as a freshman. He started with the ACH program when it was formed five years ago and has traveled to wherever there has been a tournament in order to improve. Last summer, his travels took him to Russia for an exchange trip.
B schools have trouble supporting wrestling because it is difficult to find enough competitors to fill out the 13-person lineup. But it didn’t stop Northeast District schools from qualifying seven to state this year and winning five first-round matches. The group includes Springdale’s Mark Scott, who also is a finalist, at 190.
“I like wrestling the best by far because the competition is more all you,” Walsh said. “When you win there is a personal enjoyment.”
Grieving coach
North Central’s Randy Cloke flew back to Spokane today to speak at the memorial service for Eddie Jones.
Jones, who nearly qualified for state, died last week in a fourwheeling accident. He was one of Cloke’s favorite wrestlers.
After speaking at the service, Cloke planned to return to Seattle to guide Josh Robertson (141), the lone wrestler the Indians qualified this year. But Robertson was eliminated in the third round.
Out too soon
Zack Ripley (168), the only wrestler Lewis and Clark brought to the tournament, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during his second match. Ripley led 1-0 at the time.
Super soph
Cashmere 135-pounder Jay McGuffin is 69-0 in his career. The Bulldogs sophomore won the 122-pound title last year and warmed up Friday with a first-round pin and a 16-0 technical fall.
Apocalypse Now
Vashon brought a group called “The Four Horsemen” that hadn’t lost this year. That streak ended when Alphonso Melton (101) and Max Chwaszcewski (129) were beaten in the second round.
Still steaming
Two-time State AAA champion Dave Herzog of Davis (Yakima) won twice Friday on the way to three straight.
Not to be outdone, two-time State AAA champ Ty Smith of Olympic had a pair of easy wins to move into the final four.