January 10, 2008 in Sports

Ferris hands East Valley upset in GSL dual

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Following a couple of near-miss losses during a breakthrough wrestling season at Ferris, the Saxons pulled off a major Greater Spokane League triumph.

Three wrestlers came from behind in the final 30 seconds of their matches Wednesday night at Ferris for victories and a 33-32 victory over previously unbeaten East Valley.

“I’m pretty ecstatic,” said coach Tim Owen. “For our program it’s nice to get a big win. We haven’t had a whole lot.”

At 135 pounds, Tyson Riehle was behind 3-1 with about 25 seconds remaining when he caught Jake Rodriguez in a near-side cradle for five points and a 6-3 victory, said Owen.

At 145 pounds in a match of league unbeatens, Coby Walsh trailed Nic Price 6-5 when he sent the match into overtime by escaping with 16 seconds remaining, then got a takedown for an 8-6 victory over a wrestler he’d lost to on Saturday.

Then, at 160, Ian Bauman, another Saxon GSL unbeaten, rallied from a 3-2 deficit against Nick Bellomy, getting a reversal and near-fall to win 6-3.

It was the last of seven straight wins that put Ferris ahead 33-10 and enabled them to weather EV’s upper-weight superiority that left the Knights just short.

Ferris (6-2) expected to have its best season in over a decade and barely lost to University, on a three-point team penalty deduction to start the season. Last week it was beaten by Central Valley after leading 25-6.

“We wrestled well against them,” said Owen. “I thought going in this was a big dual that could go either way.”

It turned out to be so and dropped the Knights (5-1) into a second-place tie with University (5-1) behind the Bears (7-1).

In the only other close match, host Lewis and Clark (1-7) won for the first time this season, 42-31 over Rogers (2-5). The Tigers won five straight matches for a 27-0 advantage. The Pirates roared back for a 28-27 lead, beginning and ending with pins by Jacob and Nathan Harkness. But a pin by Curtis Veium at 145 and six points in the third period by Joey Via in an 11-8 loss at 160, clinched the win. …The visiting Bears rolled past Gonzaga Prep (0-7) 61-14, winning all but three matches. Seven were by pin, including the final four. …The host Titans defeated Shadle Park 51-22. …Mead (5-2) won all but one match in a 54-3 win at home over North Central (2-5).

Gymnastics

Katie Sweatt won the uneven bars and floor exercise on the way to the all-around title while leading North Central to the team win during a four-way GSL meet at Central Valley. Mt. Spokane’s Meghan Ballou won the balance beam and placed second in the all-around. NC’s Heidi Sweatt took the vault. The host Bears placed second in team scoring, with Courtney Sexton third in the all-around and freshman Lauren Speers taking third in her first floor competition.

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