Mike Vlahovich

North Central coaches gave three hips and a hooray for David Sandberg after he claimed the 190-pound championship at last weekend's District 8 AAA wrestling tournament. The Indian sophomore had escaped to tie his match with Mead's Steve Fish in the third round and with less than a minute to go picked up a leg and used a heel trip for the decisive takedown. Sandberg is NC's first district titlist in two years and one of four champions from North Side schools who will be competing this weekend in Region IV competition at Walla Walla.

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

Led by Central Valley High School, local teams have qualified a bundle of wrestlers for regional competition this weekend. CV tied for third during the Greater Spokane League dual match season but dominated district competition. Twentyseven wrestlers combined for a 62-39 match record and 329.5 points. The Bears gained 13 regional berths, nearly one-quarter of the available 56 spots to the Region IV AAA tournament in Walla Walla on Friday and Saturday.

U-Hi's Jared Osborn appears to be in control, but Mead's Jon Rugan doesn't stay down for long in 14-6 district semifinal win. Rugan also won the title match. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Nineteen regional veterans return at this Saturday's District 7 A/B wrestling meet in Ritzville. None is taking more of a chance than Lakeside High's Wes Bouchia. And none will relish the experience more than three Rosalia wrestlers.

Thursday night's University High School wrestling team was different from the one that lost at Mead in December. These Titans are Greater Spokane League co-champions after dealing Gonzaga Prep its only defeat. "We felt after Mead we were kind of a long shot," said Titan coach Don Owen. "I sat the guys down and said if they came in with any more than a smile on their face we wouldn't have a prayer."

University's Gordon Bash, bottom, works for his pin of G-Prep's Louis Peyron. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review

When freshman 101-pounder John Slater won to assure Colville's 33-28 wrestling victory at East Valley, a dark cloud hovering over the Indians for nearly a week finally lifted. Early Tuesday, Colville had agreed to forfeit its match against West Valley which was suspended last Thursday when referee Bob West was head-butted by Colville 190-pounder Chad Hildebrandt and knocked unconscious. The forfeit came after coaches and administrators from both schools met during the day.

With and without coach Joe Feist, West Valley's boys basketball team continued to succeed. The Eagles, once-beaten overall and 3-0 in the Frontier League, dispatched East Valley by 30 points on Friday with Feist sitting out a one-game suspension for being ejected from an earlier game, then handed Pullman its first league loss, 71-63, on Saturday with Feist back on the bench. Two players, David Schillinger and Ty Gregorak, who also had been disqualified for taunting, were also supposed to sit out a game by league rule, but their appeal was upheld.

Gonzaga Prep wrestling coach Phil McLean has carried his excellence as a Deer Park competitor to his coaching job. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review

Hot-shooting lefty Corby Schuh studies for a world affairs test in the hall at Central Valley High. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

University had just captured a dramatic 33-29 wrestling victory over Central Valley when Andy Roberts handed Mike Clark the femur trophy, emblematic of the first Battle of the Bone between the two district rivals. "It's yours, baby," he told Clark, and indeed it was. Clark rallied from a 3-0 deficit with nine third-period points, including a takedown and near fall over John Jolley with 47 seconds remaining in the night's final match to end the encounter dramatically.

EV transfers James Spotted Horse, left, and Brad Wilson are helping the Knights this season. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

B-b-b-b-bad to the bone wrestlers from Central Valley and University are beginning a new tradition for their annual match. Next Wednesday's meeting at U-Hi will henceforth be called the Battle of the Bone. Befitting the bone-tough image of wrestling and in a takeoff on basketball's spirit games, CV and U-Hi will grapple over rights to the Bone, an animal femur painted in respective school colors and mounted on a plaque.

A late pin over Tyree Clowe in the first match pumps up Dave Rucker and starts Gonzaga Prep to its latest GSL victory. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

The Central Valley girls basketball team was up to the task last Friday of overcoming Gonzaga Prep's twin towers, 6-foot-1 juniors Jennifer Williams and Theresa Palmer. Figuring out a way to contain 5-foot-5 Mead sparkplug Stacy Clinesmith poses a different kind of problem this week for the once-beaten Bears. CV beat previous league co-runnerup Shadle Park 72-45 on Tuesday to set up the game with the league leading Panthers Friday at 7:15 p.m. in the Arena.

Mead district wrestling competitor and state fourth-place finishing javelin thrower Beau Chandler was back in the lineup for the Panther-Gonzaga Prep match last week. He had partially torn the medial collateral ligament in his knee during football and missed the first half of the season. "He wanted to wait until after Christmas to come out," said Mead coach Cash Stone prior to the match. "It was a perfect time for him and us. We are thrilled to say the least."

NC wrestlers Mike Caballero, left, and David Sandberg have dedicated the season to ex-teammate Eddit Jones. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Twins Andrea (left) and Angela Kallas grew up playing basketball together, and until recently played for the Bears; splitting up was was hard to do. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

Jason Wilson practices his shooting form at University High. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

As contradictory as it might seem, these are heady times and humbling times for University High School's boys basketball team. The Titans have defeated rival Central Valley and on Wednesday whipped previously unbeaten Ferris 66-52 in the Saxon gym. But U-Hi, now 3-2 in the Greater Spokane League, also lost to seventh-place Shadle Park two weeks earlier. "I think they were upset with themselves," said coach Jay Humphrey of U-Hi's turnaround.

Prep wrestling Unbeaten Gonzaga Prep, already enjoying unbridled wrestling success, added another milestone with its 34-26 victory over Mead. "It is the first time ever in the history of the program," said coach Phil McLean, architect of Gonzaga's rise to prominence. "It's nice for a team that has been working hard." Earlier in the week McLean pointed to the 129- and 141-pound matches as being pivotal and it turned out they were.

As December came to a close, Gonzaga Prep's wrestling team was unbeaten in dual competition, alone in first place in the Greater Spokane League and the winner of two invitational tournaments. "If the seasons ended at Christmas," said Bullpups coach Phil McLean. "We'd be really happy." Now, at the midpoint of the league season, reality sets in. Tonight, the Bullpups begin the most arduous part of their schedule with a match at Mead.

Riverside's boys basketball team is off to a 6-2 start, but the Rams will be tested by fire during their Frontier League debut. They meet defending champion West Valley at home Friday and follow up with a road trip to preseason favorite Pullman the following night.