Central Valley Leads Gsl’s Charge To State

4A wrestling

Three Central Valley seniors won Region IV 4A wrestling championships to lead a strong Greater Spokane League showing Saturday in Yakima.

The Bears qualified seven wrestlers to state while scoring 137.5 points, five more than runner-up Wenatchee.

Gonzaga Prep, which also has seven state qualifiers, was third with 132 points.

CV’s Shane Cunanan improved his record to 31-1 with a 7-2 victory over state placer Rolando Garcia of Davis to win the 129-pound weight class.

One match earlier, the Bears’ John Reese reversed last week’s district loss to Ryan Ellis of Ferris, winning 10-8 with a takedown in the final 15 seconds.

At 215 pounds, CV’s Brandon Bouge completed an impressive showing with a 5-0 victory over Wenatchee veteran Jason Gutzweiler.

“Our phenomenal senior class did it again,” said CV coach Dale Ethridge. “They all came through in the finals.”

GSL wrestlers won 8 of 14 regional championships and had 31 of the 56 state qualifiers to Mat Classic X in Tacoma next weekend.

Gonzaga champions included 115-pounder Chris Montgomery, who improved to 29-2 with his victory. Sophomore teammate Travis Pascoe scored an overtime takedown to beat CV’s Blair Alderman in a rematch of their district 168-pound final.

Other champions included North Central’s David Sandberg, who won 6-1 over Kennewick’s Eric Heinlein at 190. He now is 28-2 for the year.

A pair of University wrestlers also won titles.

Conor Jordan, whose five-point reversal move put him ahead 9-5, held on against Bullpup Sean Malone to win 9-8 at 135. Ben Osborn got two three-point near falls to reverse last week’s loss to Mead’s Keith Riddle in the 141-pound finale.

Ferris advanced five wrestlers to state, North Central has four, Mead and U-Hi three and Rogers two.

, DataTimes