Mike Vlahovich

Ryan Gabel’s second-period pin at 125 pounds Thursday capped a stirring 37-30 comeback victory from a 20-point deficit and lifted University (8-0) past visiting Mead and into next week’s Battle of the Bone at Central Valley (also 8-0) for the Greater Spokane League wrestling championship. “I like the pressure on me,” said Gabel, a sophomore. “I feel I perform better.”

That James Ost became a state wrestling champion last year for Post Falls as a callow sophomore shouldn’t have been too surprising. It’s in the blood. He’s the latest in a successful Post Falls family wrestling lineage that dates back decades.

That James Ost became a state wrestling champion last year for Post Falls as a callow sophomore shouldn’t have been too surprising. It’s in the blood.

A chance conversation prior to the start of the wrestling season resulted in a schedule-filling holiday dual match between programs that define their respective classifications in the sport for the Spokane area. Thursday night’s action between defending State 4A champion University and three-time 2A champs Deer Park, in front of a sizeable and knowledgeable crowd, did not disappoint.

University won’t defend its State 4A wrestling championship, but that doesn’t mean the Titans can’t win another state title. Now a Class 3A school – a move wrestling coach Don Owen opposed when he and his U-Hi coaching colleagues voted whether to opt up and remain 4A or go where the enrollment numbers indicated – U-Hi must prevail in a new classification.

University won’t defend its State 4A wrestling championship, but that doesn’t mean the Titans can’t win another state title.

If at first you don’t succeed … On its first two offensive football possessions, Colfax scored four times. Only one counted.

Colfax's offensive fits and starts didn’t prevent a return to next weekend’s playoff semifinals as a 27-0 victory over the Broncos advanced the Bulldogs (11-0) against Waitsburg-Prescott (11-0), tentatively at Martin Stadium in Pullman.

Kuulei and Hannah Zalopany were born and raised in Hawaii, a state with an impressive NCAA volleyball history. Yet the sisters, key figures on Mead’s state qualifier which begins defense of its State 4A title today, had never played the game until their arrival in the colder climes of Spokane five years ago.

Mt. Spokane wide receiver Trevor Kissinger made the most of his receiving opportunities and the Wildcats kept alive their hopes for a piece of a second straight Greater Spokane League football title Thursday. The Wildcats put the game away early, then weathered a wild fourth quarter and finished the GSL season 8-1 and as the No. 1 3A playoff representative with the 48-28 victory over North Central at Albi Stadium. The Wildcats await the outcome of tonight’s Ferris-Gonzaga Prep game to determine their league finish.

Mt. Spokane wide receiver Trevor Kissinger made the most of his receiving opportunities and the Wildcats kept alive their hopes for a piece of a second straight Greater Spokane League football title Thursday.

With an emphatic effort versus its rival, unbeaten Ferris roared into next week’s Greater Spokane League football championship showdown with Gonzaga Prep assured a title tie, but with top playoff seeding on the line. A promising Lewis and Clark drive to open the game Friday night at Joe Albi Stadium stalled in a snowstorm of sacks and set the tone of the 49-7 Saxon thumping of the Tigers in front of 3,080 fans.

Bishop Sankey … gunslinger? Gonzaga Prep’s spectacular and sought after back is bearing down on the all-time Greater Spokane League rushing record.

High school athletes who play for a coach who is also their parent know that the situation can be either a blessing or a curse. On one hand, it’s an advantage growing up around the sport and getting sound early instruction. Nonetheless, the public perception of nepotism or the fear that expectation can lend to unfair scrutiny goes with it.

There’s no love lost when Mead and Mt. Spokane square off, and the proof is in the stinginess of the defenses the past couple of years. The Panthers entered the Battle for the Bell on rivalry Friday ranked second stingiest in Greater Spokane League football. They were facing the top-ranked offense in the Wildcats.

Mt. Spokane used a simple formula in its 13-3 victory: Simply snap it to the quarterback and let him run.

Mt. Spokane made history Thursday night in a volleyball match that had everything expected of two Greater Spokane League heavyweights. There were big plays on both sides from heroes veteran and novice. Both overcame the mistakes expected, the consequences of frazzled nerves in a match of import between league unbeatens.

Mt. Spokane made history Thursday night in a volleyball match that had everything expected of two Greater Spokane League heavyweights.