Bears gnaw on Bone

A year ago Jake Hollenbeck was an eighth-grader watching The Battle of the Bone from the stands.

Wednesday night at University High, the freshman wrestling at 130 pounds put the finishing touches on Central Valley’s 34-27 Greater Spokane League victory in this annual rivalry match with U-Hi.

Hollenbeck cradled Titans senior Justin Livingston near the end of the first round for a win that guaranteed the Bears their second straight victory and trophy in the long-standing series.

He admitted to being a bit scared in his debut in a match that drew a capacity crowd of more than 2,000.

“I didn’t expect to wrestle because Brian Owen is in the weight,” he said. “I guess they put me up against a fourth-year guy, and I just did what I was taught to do.”

He cross-faced his foe until he was able to lock up the cradle for the pin that blunted a Titans comeback.

Hollenbeck wasn’t the only Battle of the Bone rookie.

Another, Lake Roosevelt transfer Logan Bowman, started a landslide at 189 pounds that broke a 6-6 tie and sent CV to a 22-6 lead.

“I told him there were more people in the gym than live in his county,” said Bears coach John Owen, jokingly.

Bowman won by pin in the second round, Jake Neumann followed with a quick pin at 215 and Tyler Cochran (285) added a major decision for the lead. Although U-Hi won five of the final seven matches, and closed to within 28-18 with three matches remaining, pins by Tanner Teeples at 119 and by Hollenbeck proved too much to overcome.

With it the Bears, whose only loss came early in the season to East Valley without Teeples, Bowman, Cochran or Hollenbeck in the lineup, joined EV with 9-1 records as the GSL season came to an end.

“I guess I kind of look at it as you win as a team and lose as a team,” Owen said. “We were beaten at 145 pounds, which was a deciding factor early and I was disappointed in that. But we hung on and hung on.”

Then Owen ticked off circumstances of every match – win or lose – that all played parts in the overall team triumph.

There were victories by Josh Renfro and Andy Wickstrom by decision. CV added four pins and the major decision, but also five of its losses came by three-point decisions, a fact not lost on the appreciative crowd.

U-Hi coach Don Owen said before the match that the opening 145-pound contest was vital to the Titans’ (7-3) chances. Sophomore Jacob Mason, who had lost twice narrowly to Jordan Choate previously this year, won 12-6 this time, thanks to two takedowns and six near-fall points.

“I have pretty long arms and work the cradle pretty well,” he said. “A lot of times they don’t know it’s coming.”

The teams traded decisions thereafter before CV’s upper weights superiority took control.

Bowman, who joined CV’s lineup late in the season, was a 171-pound State 1A champion a year ago.

“The big difference,” he said of the change, “is you have to work a lot harder. I’ve made big strides. It’s the same stuff (technique), but I’m putting it all together.”

Ultimately, both teams won seven matches, but U-Hi had only two pins. Dan Jordan (160), Tyler Clark (103), Brandon Byers (112) and Brian Owen (135) won decisions.

CV’s Tyler Delmedico put himself on his back and Anthony Rivera took advantage for a pin at 125 and Ryan Zumwalt ended the night with U-Hi’s other fall.

“Central Valley is solid,” Don Owen said. “Most are second-year kids on varsity. We were too green to win against their real high-powered kids. We fought hard and had seven good victories, but it was not enough to stave off their depth.”

For John Owen, this match is bittersweet, coming as it did against his unbeaten son Brian. But the pageantry of the night, which opened to the roar of three Harley-Davidson motorcycles, sustains him.

“This is a great rivalry and great for the sport,” he said. “The introduction is phenomenal and there’s enormous interest. There’s no better place to wrestle than at U-Hi.”

In other matches, EV did its part to earn its first league title since 2004 by beating Shadle Park 67-3 in its season finale at home. The Knights won 13 of 14 matches, seven by pin. Matt Mehlbrech (125 pounds), Dakota Lawson (171), Clete Hanson (189) and Jordan Berezay (215) all finished undefeated in league. Shadle’s Jacob Rittenhouse at 140 completed an unbeaten GSL season with a 5-3 decision. … At Rogers, Mead (8-2) had its highest finish in a while, placing third by defeating Rogers 57-3 for the Little Brown Jug. The Panthers pulled out 1980s throwback singlets for the contest. Among their 13 wins, Robert Murphy won a major decision over Pirates state veteran Jacob Harkness. Henry Tacner was Rogers’ winner. … At North Central, Mt. Spokane (5-5) defeated NC (2-8) 38-25. The Indians led 19-14 before the Wildcats reeled off five straight wins between 152 and 215 pounds. Prior to the run NC’s Scott Simchuk edged Zach Wilkes 10-8 and Dillon Coy outlasted Damien Long 12-8. But the visitors got pins by Matt Littrel, John Bergstrom and Teddy Fernau to put the contest away. … At Lewis and Clark, the Tigers (2-8) defeated Gonzaga Prep (0-10) 48-28. They jumped to an early 15-0 lead, including pins by Hawken Green and Isaac Fry and a narrow 6-5 win by Joey Via in the opener at 160. The Bullpups’ Stephan Vologdin won 4-2 in overtime at 125 over Jennings Bacon. … Matches were the final duals for the GSL. Next up is district competition the weekend of Feb. 1 to determine qualifiers for regional competition against the Columbia Basin League. Four wrestlers from there qualify for state, Feb. 15-16 in Tacoma.