Cramps Don’t Cramp Bishop’s Style As Central Valley Leads Gsl Wrestling

Brandon Bishop wasn’t sure when or who he would wrestle during Thursday night’s confrontation between Greater Spokane League unbeatens Central Valley and Gonzaga Prep.

But that uncertainty, and even a case of leg cramps, didn’t prevent him from winning a pivotal decision during CV’s 38-20 triumph.

“I didn’t drink enough water and took my warmups off way too early to be ready at either weight,” said Bishop. “I got cold.”

The match was stopped twice because of cramps. Still, Bishop’s five-point move late in the second period of his 141-pound match helped produce the key early decision.

As a result, only one team stands between CV and a perfect season and its first undisputed GSL title since 1986: nemesis University, which the Bears meet next Thursday in the annual Battle of the Bone.

CV coach Dale Ethridge turned the strategic wheels by sending out three wrestlers, including Bishop, to be introduced as potential 135- or 141-pound competitors against either of two Bullpup athletes.

Because a favorable coin toss forced Prep to commit its wrestler first at 135 pounds, CV got the matchups it wanted in those two weight classes.

“Coach told me to wrestle like I can and don’t worry about the cramps,” said Bishop.

Bishop wasn’t the only wrestler to perform magnificently in the firstplace contest. CV also won four of the five matchups it wanted at 158, 168, 178, 215 and 275 pounds.

“This was our best point of the season, without a doubt,” said Ethridge. “Not only because it was a big match, but because of the way we wrestled.”

Only one athlete, in victory or defeat, didn’t meet expectations and in most instances Bear athletes exceeded theirs.

None were pinned and in only two of six Gonzaga victories did CV allow extra team points.

Shawn Conlon, for instance, got a key late takedown against state runnerup Chris Montgomery to surrender just three team points in the night’s second match. Ethridge said the team built on his heart.

Of CV’s eight wins, five were by pin or technical fall and a sixth was by major decision.

All the pins came after the score was tied 17-17. Blair Alderman started things rolling at 178 pounds and CV steamrolled to the finish. Alderman expressed disappointment, however, that he didn’t get to face Prep’s Idaho state placer Travis Pascoe, who had tied things with a technical fall a match earlier.

“I was hoping to get Pascoe today,” he said. “I was prepped up for that match.”

Ethridge decided he wanted to wait until the district finals.

It’s hard to argue the decision considering the results in front of a raucous standing-room-only crowd in the cozy Gonzaga Prep gym.

“I loved it, the excitement,” said another pinner, Tyree Clowe. “All the loud cheering just makes you feel really good.”

If he thought the noise was loud in that match, wait until Thursday at U-Hi, when the Bears meet the Titans in the Battle of the Bone.

The Titans have dominated their rival in the 1990s. It could take a Bishop to calm the rowdy affair.

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