Bears Lead Way CV Takes Title; Sandberg Among Five Gsl Champs

4A

When David Sandberg won the 4A 190-pound wrestling championship Saturday night, his personal triumph made a statement for the Greater Spokane League.

The North Central senior, who did not allow a point in four matches at Mat Classic X, was the fifth state champion for the GSL.

The exclamation point belonged to the Central Valley Bears, who came from behind to capture the team championship by one point over defending champion Evergreen.

Each championship was a special story, from the family affair surrounding Tommy Owen’s win at 101, to John Reese’s emotional collapse at 122. From Shane Cunanan’s determination at 129, to Travis Pascoe meeting the challenge at 168. But nobody did it better than Sandberg, who had two pins on Friday and two shutouts on Saturday.

Then there were the Bears.

But maybe it’s better to start at the beginning.

After building the North Idaho College wrestling team into a national power, John Owen retired so his son could wrestle for his uncle Don at University.

After Tommy’s 6-1 win over Eric Schwartz of Southridge, his uncle had to admit this championship was special.

“When they’re you’re blood, when you’ve seen them since they were little shavers, it means a lot,” Don Owen said before deferring to his brother. “I wish I could take more credit.”

Tommy finished 35-4, losing to three Montana state champions in tournaments and Charlie Wright of Pasco last week, before handing Schwartz just his second loss in 36 matches.

“There was a little pressure because of my uncle coaching and my dad, but not too bad,” Tommy said. “I was pretty confident. I lost last week but it was a good loss because I know people can beat me. It made me work harder.”

Evergreen’s Ben Vombaur beat Gonzaga Prep’s Chris Montgomery in the finals for the second straight year. The four team points for the 115-pound match put the Plainsmen up by nine.

“I didn’t train for four years to take second, twice,” an extremely disappointed Montgomery said.

When Reese beat Ryan Ellis of Ferris 11-3 he just dropped to the mat in disbelief and tears of joy poured down his cheeks.

“I’m not in shock,” he corrected, “just ecstatic. I was pretty confident but I wasn’t going to say I knew I was going to win.”

Ellis won the first two meetings before Reese countered at regionals.

“I’ve been studying him, trying to slow the match pace down and wrestle smarter,” Reese said. “I’m starting to figure his style out and I think he was more nervous than me. It’s pretty humbling.”

The extra point for the eight-point decision tacked onto the four points for the win was needed because CV trailed Evergreen by nine before the match.

Cunanan was known as a three-time medalist and he didn’t like that. “Every since I walked off that mat, that’s all I wanted,” he said, still smarting at the memory of a loss to Eric Mann of Richland in last year’s 122-pound finals.

He went out and put a 12-4 whipping on Rolando Garcia of Davis, whom he beat 7-2 at regionals.

“I wanted to stay intense the whole time, eventually I knew I’d get to him,” said Cunanan, who finished with a 35-1 record. “He wrestles defensively, I knew I had to get after it.”

The extra point again was crucial for CV, the five points pushing them one up on Evergreen.

Pascoe was second in the Idaho state tournament as a freshman, his only loss of the year coming in the final, but he didn’t have anything to prove across the border so he commutes to Gonzaga Prep every day.

“It was tough every match,” he said. “There was nobody weak here like last year in Idaho. It was worth it.”

Pascoe was never in trouble in the final, beating Brian Shaw of Marysville-Pilchuck 10-4. Shaw had beaten both Blair Alderman and Courtney Brown of Central Valley on his way to the finals. Brown then beat his teammate 3-1 in the match for third place.

Sandberg wore his confidence on his chest. He proudly pointed to a T-shirt from Brian Burrow, his wrestling partner last year, that said: “What does it feel like to lose? I can’t say that I know.”

He lost only twice in 34 matches this year and he wasn’t surprised the way he dominated the state meet.

“I’ve only been taken down three times all year, and that was out of stupidity,” he said. “It feels great, all those miles I ran paid off.”

CV was forced to put its faith in Nate Stum of Columbia River, who had been beaten three times in five matches with Evergreen’s Brad Alberts, including a first-period pin last week. This time, Stum won 8-5.

“It feels phenomenal,” Ethridge said. “The kids wrestled real well.”

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