Three Gsl Stars Erase Past Aaa

“Home of two state wrestling champions”, a sign might read in Eugene, Ore.

“Home of one state wrestling champion - finally”, another might say on Spokane’s North side.

Three Greater Spokane League wrestlers shook off the disappointments of one year, two years and several years in winning Mat Classic VII Class AAA titles.

Dusty Roberts of University, Troy Hughes of Mead and Gonzaga Prep’s Cory Brannon stood atop the trophy stand in the Tacoma Dome on Saturday as the best in the state.

Roberts, at 148 pounds, made up for the third-place finish he had to settle for last year that came on the heels of the 135-pound title he won as a sophomore.

Hughes, Roberts’ friend and future roommate at the University of Oregon, reached No. 1 at 178 after second-place finishes in the previous two years. Hughes was second at 168 as a sophomore and second at 178 last year.

And Brannon, a sophomore who joined senior teammate Steve Steigleder as the school’s first two state wrestling finalists, defeated sophomore Jon Rugan of Mead in an allGSL final at 108.

Hughes and Roberts, confident competitors who expected nothing but the title, finished undefeated. Roberts ended 33-0, Hughes 31-0.

“I could have told you three weeks ago that I would win the state title,” Roberts said. “I was confident enough that nobody could stop me.”

Roberts manhandled Travis Morgan (31-1) of Puyallup, 16-9. Morgan was the only person at state who didn’t lose to Roberts by at least a major decision. But Morgan couldn’t counter Roberts’ quick moves to the rear that resulted in four takedowns after the first round.

Hughes defeated and bloodied Adam Sampson of Oak Harbor 11-5. Hughes violently threw down Sampson late in the first round, cutting the junior above his right eye. The deep gash required attention three times.

“I knew I had him beat,” said Hughes, whose brother Travis, a former state runner-up, was in attendance. “This is the best feeling I’ve ever had. I’ve been looking for this for a long time.”

Hughes’ toughest match was a semifinal against Prairie senior Matt Nelson. Hughes immediately found himself in a rare position - on his back - but rebounded from a 4-0 deficit to win 10-8.

Brannon (30-5) defeated Rugan 9-2, turning the match his way with a three-point move early in the third round, after Rugan had failed to score from on top.

Losing in the finals were Steigleder

(129), 6-3 to 31-0 Kurt Karjalainen of Oak Harbor, and Rogers’ Matt Miethe (275), who became the 29th pinning victim of Kent-Meridian’s Matt Orndorff.

Top-ranked Moses Lake won the team title in a breeze, scoring 126 points. The Chiefs have won 13 state championships, the last in 1988. It was coach Ron Seibel’s seventh state title.

Third-ranked South Kitsap finished second place with 98.

Thanks to quality wrestlers, the GSL, with no more than five participants on any team, placed three teams in the top 10. Mead, the 1993 champ, scored 61 for sixth place. U-Hi was seventh with 54 and Rogers placed ninth with 43. The two-day attendance was 25,760.

In afternoon matches for third and fourth places, Mike Knight (115) of Rogers defeated Josh Knowles of U-Hi 7-1; CV’s Shane Cunanan (108) topped Richard Leegard of South Kitsap 6-1; and Mead’s Justin O’Connor (190), who was undefeated until the semifinals, was pinned by Darren Marzof of Snohomish.

In matches for fifth and sixth, Fletcher Barkdull (122) of Ferris topped Bethel’s Jody Coleman 7-5 in overtime; U-Hi’s Scott Garcia (141) stopped Shane Anderson of Walla Walla 12-7; and Corey Laughary (148) of Shadle Park lost to Dan Chase of Evergreen.

Saturday opened with tense semifinals, as Rugan, Brannon/Cunanan and Barkdull went into OT.

Brannon and Cunanan wrestled on the mat next to Rugan. Rugan and Brannon, in fact, scored OT winners at nearly the same instant.

Rugan immediately fell behind Battle Ground’s Abe Lepak 5-0. He rallied for a late 9-8 lead before allowing Lepak to forge a tie in the final 15 seconds with a stall point.

Cunanan forced a 3-all tie with 1 minute left by taking down Brannon. Brannon responded with an escape, but was penalized for stalling with 15 seconds left.

Barkdull stayed with eventual champ Nelson Crisanto, but couldn’t wiggle free from the Wenatchee regional winner.