Mike Vlahovich

Ryan Cross takes a breather during a 1993 practice. A memorial service is planned for 1 p.m. today at Hazen & Jaeger Valley Funeral Home, with a gathering of family and friends to follow at the U-Hi cafeteria. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Many will remember Cosman Bishop. The senior at Snohomish, who wrestled despite both legs being amputated above the knee, was the subject of a Spokesman-Review feature last December. Bishop finished second at 101 pounds, losing to Ben Vombauer 4-2 in overtime. Vombauer finished the year at 34-0, with two wins over Bishop. Chris Montgomery of Gonzaga Prep defeated Bishop 9-2 at 103 pounds in the Tri-State tournament in Coeur d'Alene in December. Montgomery finished fifth at 108 pounds at state.

Central Valley, which finished as the state's second-best AAA wrestling team, had its most successful tournament performance ever at Mat Classic VIII. Within a period of two weeks the Bears set a school record by scoring 329.5 points while winning the District 8 tournament, then won their first Region IV championship while qualifying an all-time best nine wrestlers to state, then had seven of those place at state, resulting in their highest state finish ever. Previous best was fifth. "We had an outstanding tournament," said coach Dale Ethridge. "It shows the quality and character of the kids." Yet the gnawing in Ethridge's stomach won't go away.

James Clark of Mead, left, won his semifinal 148-pound match against South Kitsap's Jason Ellison Saturday at the Tacoma Dome and went on to claim the state AAA championship. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

1. Schmedding 2. Jeff Schmedding, right, won an overtime victory against Trevor Howard of Mercer Island last week at the state tournament in Tacoma. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

Making the move from Class A to AA has proved little problem for Riverside High School. The Rams had two placers in their first State AA Wrestling Tournament.

When University High junior Andy Roberts won his second State AAA wrestling title Saturday, it gave the Roberts family state championships in five weight classes. Oldest brother Kevin, now 28-1 for the University of Oregon, won at 115 pounds in 1991. Middle brother Dusty, also at Oregon, won in 1993 at 135 pounds and in 1995 at 148. Andy, the youngest, won at 108 pounds in 1994 and at 129 this year. Last year he was unable to wrestle because of injury. "It kind of crushed me," he said of the injury he suffered while practicing against Dusty prior to district. "It wasn't a very good time although I enjoyed watching Dusty win."

A pair of Frontier League seniors with ties to their schools' pasts won State AA Wrestling championships Saturday night. Colville senior Jeremiah Divis took the Frontier League's lone championship Saturday night in the AA State tournament at Mat Classic VIII.

Rick Giampietri's title opportunity, and perhaps Central Valley's team championship as well, was squashed when referee Dan Jagla denied he penalized the CV wrestler's foe a point for stalling. CV coaches asserted he had given a second stalling signal and the scorers initially acknowledged it. A second stall by rule would have awarded Giampietri a point to tie the score at match's end.

University's Andy Roberts tangles with Brian Chang of Lakes (Tacoma) in semifinal match, eventually winning in overtime. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

State AA wrestling Until last year, East Valley's Ben Wise had not wrestled. Today he is one of four State AA semifinalists from the Frontier League. Wise, a 215-pounder, twice won convincingly in just his second year with the sport. "He just has a lot of natural ability," said Knights assistant coach Bill Close. "I don't know why it took him so long to discover it, but I'm glad he did."

State AAA wrestling The theme song of Mead wrestler Jon Rugan and Central Valley's Shane Cunanan could well be "Same Time Next Year." For the second straight year, the two Greater Spokane League 115-pounders and good friends will wrestle for a spot in the State AAA finals at Mat Classic VIII. Last year Rugan, a junior, defeated Cunanan and went on to finish second at 108 pounds. Cunanan, a sophomore, finished third. They are one half of a weight class semifinal that pits all Region IV wrestlers against each other. University High's Jared Osborn meets Richland's Aaron Mann in the other 115-pound match. The three Spokane athletes are among nine GSL semifinalists still in the hunt for AAA state championships. Also assured of top-eight places, a departure from former tournaments when only six wrestlers medaled, are 11 other league athletes. Rugan and Cunanan will meet for the third time this year, having split their other two meetings. While the match will determine who makes the finals, it also has team trophy implications. Going into today's competition, Central Valley is second in the AAA meet with 55.5 points behind Auburn's 59. The Bears still have seven wrestlers in the competition. They are 108 pounder John Reese, 168 pounder Shane Yackel, 178 pounder Joe Thiefault, 190 pounder Tyree Clowe and 275 pounder Bob Perkes. Other GSL medalists are LC 101-pounder Brian Lehrman, Gonzaga 122 pounder Cory Brannon, 135 pounders James Dawe of Rogers and Fletcher Barkdull of Ferris, 141 pounder Nick Bliss from Gonzaga, Rogers 168 pounder Shaun McMackin and North Central 190 pounder David Sandberg. The Panthers have three semifinalists, including 141-pound Lyle Beerbohm, who won dramatically 6-5 over Auburn's Joey Hess, and 148-pounder James Clark, who came back for a 7-4 victory. CV's other semifinalist is third-year state participant Rick Giampietri at 158 pounds. University had a strong day. The league co-champions, who until now have struggled in postseason, sent three wrestlers into the semis. Besides Osborn, 1984 state champion Andy Roberts won twice handily at 129 pounds. Jeff Schmedding, at 215, won a pair of workmanlike matches. A major setback came at 122 pounds, where returning state fourth placer Josh Knowles lost in overtime. He was docked a stall point and gave up a takedown in the waning seconds. He was ultimately eliminated from further competition by Brannon. Another GSL state semifinalist is Gonzaga Prep sophomore Chris Montgomery. The 108 pounder went from third at district to a shot at a championship. Returning Bullpups state champion Brannon didn't have as much luck, losing 2-0 to Kentridge's Mike Mertel in a match between last year's 108-pound winner and 115-pound runner-up, both now at 122 pounds. In his third match with Mike Mondt, last year's third-place 275-pound winner, Perkes gave up a late takedown and lost 7-4. There were other disappointments at Mat Classic VIII. In a 190-pound match, Mead's Spencer Smith was leading 10-1 and suddenly was pinned. "It's craziness," said Mead coach Cash Stone. "Some things are unexplainable."

Nick Scherman jumps for the ball during practice with his fellow Freeman Scotties. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

For just the second time in school history, Valley Christian's boys basketball team is in the Northeast B district tournament. The Panthers beat Ritzville 49-45 to qualify for the eight-team event which advances three teams to the State B tournament in the Spokane Arena. VC took a four-point lead after a quarter and nursed it throughout the game. Ritzville trailed by just a point after three periods.

Winners of five straight games in the Greater Spokane League, Central Valley's boys basketball team assured itself a tie for second place. Tuesday night the Bears posted up Mead inside to take a 31-17 halftime lead and held on for a 50-42 victory. With help from University, CV would finish alone in second place. The Titans need a win at Mead tonight to clinch an outright playoff berth as well. "I'd much rather be alone in second," said Irwin. "Anytime you can avoid a Tuesday loser-out game is nice. But it still turned out all right in a sense." The top two teams in the GSL automatically qualify for the Lamb Weston Regional tournament. Third through sixth place teams meet in loser out competition Tuesday which makes second place huge.

Young Lakeside High School wrestlers continued to carve out their niche in the 1996 season. The Eagles sent a tournament-high seven wrestlers into the finals of last weekend's Region IV event at Mead High School, qualifying all of them to this weekend's State A-B meet at Mat Classic VIII in Tacoma. In all but one weight class between 101 to 148 pounds, the championship matches pitted Lakeside against other schools within the region.

Bob Perkes has 50 safety pins - symbolizing wrestling pins - on his letter jacket. He goes to state after placing second in the regional tourney. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Five North Side gymnasts have qualified for this weekend's state meet in Tacoma. Included are three from Mead: Kelly Herron, who finished seventh on balance beam at 9.15; Heather Salo, who was ninth at 8.6 on vault; and Marki Stewart, who qualified both on vault at 8.55 and floor exercise at 8.95. Two from North Central, Shelly Betts and Emily Jones, scored 8.6 on balance beam to earn a trip to the state meet.

The addition of Nate Dunham, right, is part of the reason behind Shadle Park's recent successes on the basketball court. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Wrestlers in seven of the night's first eight finals matches weren't enough for Lakeside High School to unseat defending Region IV A-B champion Cashmere. The Eagles had only one champion despite having more finalists than any other school. "It's very disappointing," said Lakeside sophomore Anthony Layton, whose 11-7 win over Deer Park's Don Forbes was the lone title for his team. "But again, this is the toughest region in state, I think."

Jeremy Sandin is the Panthers latest star, averaging 21.8 points per game. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

For the better part of the basketball season Valley Christian School struggled to reach .500. In the course of three games the Panthers have found themselves once again one of the Bi-County League's final six teams.

Basketball's fickle finger, a helping hand lent by Kelly Hineman, pointed University's way last week. Hineman scored 42 points during a 40-39 win over third-place Lewis and Clark and had 26 more Thursday night in a thrilling 56-54 win over North Central. Included was the game winner after the capricious ball bounced favorably for the Titans in the game's final 26 seconds.

North Central's Adam Heib goes up for the ball. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review