Knights Dominate Fl Finale
Frontier wrestling
East Valley put an exclamation mark on an unbeaten Frontier League wrestling season Thursday night with a 63-0 victory over West Valley.
It was the second shutout this season against a league foe, a fact that amazed coach Craig Hanson.
“I thought we could against Pullman, although we weren’t trying to,” Hanson said. “I’m surprised we shut out WV.”
The Knights won all four matches that might have rated as tossups. Included were the 178-pound match in which Rob Gillespie edged Josh Kelp 7-5, and the 122-pound match in which Justin Walker beat Quinn Sharpe 9-2.
Gillespie’s win earned him a No. 2 seed in the upcoming district tournament.
His third takedown of the night, a single-leg shot with 1:14 left in the contest, iced it.
“It was a real tough match,” said Gillespie. “I got lucky a couple of times.”
Walker avenged an earlier pin loss to Sharpe.
In another close contest, freshman Brad Perry spotted senior Paul Bain an 8-2 advantage and roared back for a 14-10 triumph at 108.
Otherwise, the Knights dominated, winning four matches by pins, another by forfeit, two by technical falls and two by major decisions.
EV’s regular season-ending triumph came two days after a 47-16 romp over Colville that had all but clinched a seventh Frontier title in eight years.
“There was a lot of pressure on that match. They had beaten us three straight years,” said Hanson. “I felt the pressure worse than (the wrestlers).”
The Colville match was held on the last day of finals and Hanson had told team members not to worry about their weights. Some had to cut hard to make it and one, Christopher Duncan, didn’t.
But the Knights allowed only three individual victories while winning 11. During the Frontier season they lost only 11 of 84 matches in an overwhelming display of power.
“This year I felt we had the tools to (win league),” said Hanson. “We were far more dominant than I imagined.”
Clarkston (5-1) finished second in league and 10-1 in duals with a 66-12 romp past Pullman (1-4). Mike Reyes at 108 and Tyson Thivierge at 178 finished unbeaten.
Colville (3-2) whipped winless Riverside (0-6) 63-6. John Slater remained unbeaten at 108 pounds.
, DataTimes