University claims trophy
The Battle for the Bone essentially came down to youth against experience Thursday.
The visiting University Titans served up a heaping size of experience, claiming the Bone for the 13th time in 18 years.
University took 9 of 14 matches for a 43-21 Greater Spokane League wrestling decision over Central Valley before an estimated crowd of 2,000.
For the annual rivalry match, the crowd was largely sedate. That could be because the matches went according to script for the most part.
The win locked up second in the GSL for U-Hi (8-1).
“Our kids wrestled really hard and they trained so hard,” U-Hi coach Don Owen said. “They’re a great bunch of boys. It’s nice to get the Bone back to our house.”
U-Hi senior Kwest Osborn capped his Bone career 3-0.
Osborn pinned Carson Graham of CV in 3 minutes, 18 seconds at 106 pounds.
“He’s always been really tough for us in this match,” Owen said.
Osborn struck quickly with a takedown and three back points. He used a reversal to open the second period that he worked into the pin.
“It’s good to finish off the (regular season) with a win,” Osborn said. “It will launch me into my postseason with confidence and confidence in our team.”
Osborn had wrestled Graham before so he had a plan.
“I knew what I had to do and knew what he was going to do,” Osborn said. “Knowing that I was going to win and do what I needed to do to win were some of the things that propelled me in the match.”
The dual started at 160. U-Hi junior John Fairbanks was admittedly nervous.
Fairbanks wrestled mistake free, topping CV freshman Chauncye Garigan 6-2.
“My coach pulled me over to the side and said ‘you’ve just got to be ready, you’ve got to start it off good for our team,’ ” Fairbanks said. “I wrestled him previously and won by a point. I knew I had to push the pace and I had to push him. I had to be the one setting the tone. It was a picture-perfect match on my part. I didn’t do anything that was wrong. I wrestled my match and made sure he wrestled my match.”
Owen was impressed with Franklin.
“It was a pivotal match,” Owen said. “Both wrestlers are very equal in ability. John was solid, consistent.”
U-Hi senior Dan Frobe’s 5-0 decision over Elija Kilborn at 138 secured the Bone with two matches remaining.
The Titans won the final three matches, including a pin by senior Ryan Gabel at 145.
“All three of the last matches we dominated,” Owen said. “We were consistent and made sure the matches got put away.”
CV (7-2) got expected wins from senior Tanner Davis (182), freshman Bryson Beard (113), sophomore Blake Beard (126) and junior Colton Orrino (132).
The Bears’ other victory came from sophomore Aaron Stintzi at 195.
Stintzi took a 3-1 lead over Skyler Poole into the final period. Poole got an escape 11 seconds into the period, but Poole got a big takedown with 1:07 to go and finished with a 5-3 win.
CV coach John Owen knew his team was in tough against U-Hi.
“I thought our good kids would win and I thought their good kids would win,” John Owen said.
“There were some mismatches, obviously. It would have taken literally a perfect performance. There were some insurmountable odds for us. I was more geared at our effort than the final outcome.”
Around the GSL
Mead (9-0) locked up the league title with a 38-21 win over visiting Mt. Spokane (6-3). In a match between fourth-place finishers at state a year ago, David Munding of Mead used an escape, a takedown and two back points for a 7-0 lead on the way to an 8-3 decision over John Hoover at 145. At 126, Tate LeClaire of Mead held off Jason Beck 6-4 in overtime. … In the King of the Hill dual, Lewis and Clark (3-6) downed Ferris (2-7) 40-21 at Ferris. Eli Malm of LC trailed 6-5 but got a reversal with 5 seconds to go for a win at 106. Kyle Davis of LC got a big win at 145 with an 8-6 decision. … Visiting Rogers (2-7) handled Gonzaga Prep (0-9) 55-19. In one of the best matches, G-Prep freshman Tyler Brooking used a late takedown to knock off Ken Keller 5-3 in double overtime. … At North Central, the Indians (5-4) used four pins to stop Shadle Park (3-6) 37-27.