Mike Vlahovich

Heading into the Pacific Northwest Classic wrestling finals, Deer Park held a five-point lead over tourney host University and both schools had four in title bouts.

Having the Beard brothers as your opening and closing acts isn’t a bad way to avoid wrestling drama.

A fortuitous confluence of circumstances on Saturday propelled the Gonzaga Prep girls soccer team to the State 4A semifinals next Friday at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.

A trio of individuals who for a quarter century and more have given of themselves for the welfare of Spokane area athletics were recognized for their contributions Saturday at the State 2B and 1B basketball tournaments at the Arena. Hal McGlathery, Kurt Danekas and Rick Lukens were recipients of the 2014 Inland Northwest Sportswriters and Broadcasters 25-Year Award plaques presented by KHQ-6 sports director Sam Adams.

Trailing by as many as 15 points in the waning minute of the first half, Clarkston mounted a stirring comeback to earn a berth in next weekend’s State 2A boys quarterfinals. They cut the deficit to nine points by intermission, then continued the rally in the second half for a 62-53 victory over Sammamish, improving to 23-1 and moving on to the eight-team, three-day tourney that begins in Yakima on Friday.

Home-grown products headline the 2014 athletes, teams and coach recognized for their accomplishments by Inland Northwest Sportswriters and Broadcasters. Washington State University quarterback, and former Ferris High star, Connor Halliday is the Amateur Male Athlete of the Year. Tampa Bay Lightning hockey player Tyler Johnson, by way of Central Valley and the Spokane Chiefs was voted Professional Athlete of the Year.

The Stinky Singlet at North Central on wrestling rivalry night in the Greater Spokane League had all the trappings of postseason competition. Some 14 state-ranked wrestlers took to the mat when the Indians and Shadle Park squared off in their season finale. But defending State 3A champion NC, tabbed by coaches to repeat, had more guns for the 36-25 victory.

Even before the wrestling match between Central Valley and North Central began, CV coach John Owen fretted that he’d need to gamble. He figured host NC was favored in eight of 14 matches and opted to take a chance and bump Braeden Orrino up from 145 pounds to 160 in Wednesday night’s opening weight class.

By the time returning Colville state placer T.J. Baun staunched the bleeding with his pin at 113 pounds midway through the showdown wrestling match between the state’s top-two ranked 1A teams, the damage had been done. Just two matches into the showdown between the Indians and host Freeman, Colville was ahead 4-3. Two minutes later, if you count the seconds it took to raise the hands of two Scotties who were awarded forfeit victories, Freeman led 33-4.

You might think Freeman’s Sebastian Hyta would be intimidated competing as he was in a tournament that featured wrestlers from schools three classifications higher than his 1A school. But after placing third earlier at the prestigious Tri-State Tournament in Coeur d’Alene, how difficult could a 195-pound title match be even if it were against a returning State 2A fourth-placer during University’s Pacific Northwest Classic Saturday afternoon?

There was sense of familiarity about the Inland Empire Classic wrestling tournament hosted by Central Valley on Saturday afternoon. Twenty of last year’s top-four finishers were in the finals of this year’s event and the Moses Lake Chiefs and Post Falls Trojans finished one-two again, albeit in reverse order.

Central Valley girls soccer team, the one that lost to Mead 2-0 for the district championship a week ago, was an imposter. The real Bears (16-2 overall) took care of business winning twice during the week, including a 4-0 throttling of Mead Saturday afternoon, and earning their fifth straight trip to state.

On a dank Saturday afternoon, Mead rained down on host Central Valley in the District 8 4A girls soccer championship. The Panthers stifled the regular season Greater Spokane League champions on their way to a 2-0 victory. It was Panthers coach Kevin Houston’s first girls district title.

The last time University defeated Central Valley in football was a decade ago. Friday night, the Titans put together their most complete game of their season to stun the Bears 35-23, dashing CV’s playoff hopes and putting the Titans’ record over .500 with a crossover game remaining next week. U-Hi put a load on the shoulders of bullish rusher Bryce Williamson in an offense that racked up 435 yards, 316 on the ground.

As Central Valley’s Greater Spokane League slowpitch softball champions were in the middle of their post-game confab, the football team, practicing nearby, stormed the balustrade and offered a raucous shout out. The Bears (21-1) had not only dethroned perennial champion University (20-2), but also did so with a shocking 15-2 five-inning thrashing Wednesday.

It was a tale of two halves. Lewis and Clark dominated the first with its defense for a 21-point lead. Host University returned the favor and trailed by just a touchdown one play into the fourth quarter.

Gonzaga Prep was a model of consistency, University couldn’t get out of its own way and the Bullpups’ 54-19 victory Friday night at U-Hi was the end result. Following a first-possession punt, Prep scored on five successive series and eight of nine to easily dispatch the mistake-prone Titans. The ninth possession was a failed field goal attempt.