Stags stop EV, stay unbeaten
Deer Park wrestler Cole Harris found himself in a quandary Tuesday night at East Valley.
The two-time 2A state placer trailed Alex Rockstrom 5-2 in the second period at 132 pounds following Rockstrom’s escape.
But in a lightning-quick explosion, Harris hit a four-point takedown-to-near fall move for a 6-5 lead by the end of the round and pinned his foe 38 seconds into the final period.
The sudden turn of events put the Stags ahead 21-9 on the way to a convincing 46-21 victory in this match between Great Northern League unbeatens.
The Stags (4-0) rolled up five pins, including Harris’, and a total of 10 individual victories. East Valley (3-1) won only twice on the mat, benefitting from a couple of forfeits.
Deer Park coach Matt Jorgensen lauded the comeback effort of Harris and four others – Adam Klauder, Jake Konzal, Matt Miller and Dylan Miller – who also stuck their foes.
“We had some big pins against good kids,” he said. “East Valley has a good team and I knew some of the matches would be close.”
Actually some were, even if the score didn’t reflect it. EV is young with 11 underclassmen in the 14-weight lineup, six of them freshmen.
One, Alex Bowdish, triumphed at 113 pounds. Five other wrestlers battled gamely, including freshman Gabe Meyer, who came up just short, losing 5-3 to Cody Dehn at 126.
“That was nothing like I expected,” EV coach Craig Hanson said of the outcome. “They barred us and halved us all night.”
Hanson figured his wrestlers had legitimate chances to win three matches they didn’t and didn’t anticipate getting pinned in another.
Jorgensen was happy with the outcome, but felt the team needed to “knock off some rust” after traveling to Utah for the Rocky Mountain Rumble.
“Dehn had a great tournament there, but we had to pull him out (early) because of his match count,” he said.
The victory moved Deer Park closer to the GNL title with two matches remaining. Standing in the way is once-beaten Cheney.
“Cheney matches up well with us,” Jorgensen said. “They are really strong up top.”