Rogers Beats Mead In Wrestling Upset

Last week left North Side wrestlers in a state of shock, but did lend further evidence to the strength of the sport in Spokane.

Rogers High grapplers presented first-year coach Walt Arnold with a pleasant surprise, their 37-36 upset victory over Mead in the battle for the Little Brown Jug.

Lakeside wrestlers were brought back to reality when they were tied by Medical Lake in a Northeast A League match for first place.

Arnold replaced his mentor and Pirate coaching legend Ken Pelo this year and with the triumph over Mead will have a winning season in his official GSL debut.

“I thought we’d be pretty competitive as we got better,” said Arnold, who last year stood in during Pelo’s hospitalization for an infection.

The Pirates lost by six points to league co-champion Gonzaga Prep and Arnold said two weight classes could have gone either way.

“We didn’t pull it off, but when we hit Mead I still felt we had a good shot at beating them,” he said. “The breaks went well.”

Illness that left Lakeside’s wrestling room at times devoid of more than half its team may have contributed to the Eagle’s 32-32 tie with Medical Lake.

Nate Bohl, recovering from pneumonia, didn’t wrestle. Jason Belyea, who had won over Cardinal Jesse Moroni last year, was beaten by him this year.

The team was docked a point for unnecessary roughness in Aaron Laughery’s 9-8 loss at 158.

Coach Scott Jones refused to use that as an excuse.

“It was a lack of heart,” he said. “The match was a real gut-check for us.”

The next night the Eagles thrashed Chewelah 57-13, a team which had lost to Medical Lake by just three points the week before.

Success carried over into Lakeside’s co-championship of the A classification at last weekend’s Washington Dream Duals in Auburn.

The Eagles beat Warden 43-19, Quincy 33-24, and tied Connell 28-28, even though 215-pounder Randy Brownell missed the meet because he was taking SAT college testing.

Originally, Connell was declared the outright champion by virtue of a 2-1 pin edge. But Jones argued that the Eagles should have gotten pin consideration for a forfeit victory, which would have given them the win because of more major decisions.

Meet coordinator Scott Bliss ultimately concurred. He phoned Jones to say a plaque for a co-title is in the mail.

Two of the three championship matches at Dream Duals ended in ties and Gonzaga Prep’s win over University, 32-26 could have.

“There were three awesome matches going on at the same time,” said Bullpup coach Phil McLean.

Originally, a Titan wrestler was awarded a point for an escape, but McLean contended that time had run out. After a heated discussion, the official agreed.

“The clock was right by our bench,” said McLean. “The buzzer buzzed and then the official awarded points.”

Don Wieber won in overtime, the first of four straight Bullpup victories that rallied them to the title.

It culminated a week in which University’s win over Central Valley put Gonzaga in title position for the second straight year.

“Last year was our first-ever and it is kind of our goal to have that opportunity every year,” said McLean. “U-Hi had to do it for us, but I guess any piece is better than none at all.”

Rogers took part in the Big Nine Quad Duals last weekend and broke even in four matches, beating Walla Walla and Davis, losing to Kamiakin and 33-30 to Moses Lake.

“I was real satisfied, other than our first match with Kamiakin,” said Arnold. “We’ve really become competitive and we’re still pretty young.”

Daryl Groom, Nick Fuller, Matt Burnham and Daryn Steeneck are the only Pirate seniors, he said.

Groom and Fuller will be involved in pivotal matches tonight when the Pirates (5-2) host co-leader Central Valley (6-1)in the season finale.

Basketball teams at crunch time

With Shadle Park’s Tuesday night victory over previously unbeaten Ferris, the next couple of weeks are critical for three other North Side Greater Spokane League boys basketball teams.

The Highlanders share first place with their 50-46 triumph to maintain at least a three-game advantage over the other three.

Mead (5-5) took a positive step by beating Gonzaga 68-55 Tuesday. In their next three games, the Panthers face only one playoff contender, Central Valley next Tuesday.

The Panther and Bullpup boys were jockeying for position in the four-way race for third place with CV and University.

Gonzaga (4-5) travels to Ferris Friday and Next Tuesday plays runnerup Shadle Park (9-1) in the Arena.

Following Tuesday night’s 69-62 overtime loss at CV, every game is critical for Rogers (3-7).

Friday, the Pirates are home against Shadle. They then face Ferris, University and Gonzaga Prep beginning next Thursday.

Lakeside alone at the top

Last weekend’s Northeast A League basketball results gave Lakeside’s boys basketball team some margin for error.

They may need it when surging Colfax, winners of four straight games, travel to Lakeside on Friday.

Lakeside moved into undisputed first place with a pair of victories, while Medical Lake was losing for the second time this year, to Colfax.

Friday’s girls game is also big for playoff purposes. The league-leading Eagles face third-place Colfax in a game that would virtually secure them a top-two league finish and a district playoff bye.

, DataTimes