Soph Crashes Semis

Wrestling regionals

There were the usual upsets on Friday when Greater Spokane League and Big Nine wrestlers evenly divided semifinalists for today’s conclusion of the Region IV 4A tournament at Central Valley High School.

None was more stunning than the one by 168-pound North Central sophomore Ezra Bocook.

Bocook outscored Richland No. 1 seed Jesse Pierson 13-9 for the night’s truly stunning triumph.

Each league advanced 13 of its 14 No. 1-seeded wrestlers. Four GSL and Big Nine third seeds won minor upsets over their second-seeded counterparts.

The Big Nine swept the 275-pound weight class when Davis’ No. 4 seed Nathan Huizar edged Ferris’ Dan Durham 3-2.

Competition resumes today with semifinals and consolation matches beginning at 11 a.m. Placing matches are scheduled for 4:30 p.m., followed by the finals at approximately 6.

Bocook had wrestled Pierson earlier this year at the Inland Empire Classic at CV. He lost by a 15-point technical fall.

Their rematch was different with the stocky NC youngster piling up the points for victory.

“I just did what coach told me and kept moving,” said Bocook.

NC coach Randy Cloke was beside himself with excitement.

“It’s a heckuva time to start listening to me,” he said to Bocook. “It was just keep moving, plain and simple. Be a little fireplug and go, go, go, go, go.”

Among minor GSL upset victors were Gonzaga Prep’s Jeff Zappone at 101 pounds and Greg Healy at 129, Mead’s Kevin Klaus at 141 and Mt. Spokane’s Bobby LaBelle at 190.

The Big Nine countered with No. 3 winners Dausen Hauker, Kennewick, 122, Chris Cain, Southridge, 141, Matt Noble, Wenatchee, 190, and Nathan Clark, Kamiakin, 275.

Wenatchee advanced 11 wrestlers to the semifinals and leads after one session with 64 points. Second-place Gonzaga Prep has eight semifinalists and Pasco five. Three GSL schools, Mead, University and Central Valley have four apiece.

Region IV 3A

Eastern Washington sub-regional qualifiers to the Region IV tournament were, as expected, thoroughly dominant on the first day of competition in Ellensburg.

Competitors from the Frontier and Mid-Valley leagues have 47 of 56 semifinalists, each of whom are a win away from qualifying for Mat Classic XI next week in Tacoma.

East Valley of Spokane leads the tournament with nine semifinalists and 58 points to Moses Lake’s eight semifinalists and 51 points.

Cheney has six in the semis, West Valley and Clarkston two apiece.

The early “pigtail” round, pitting Frontier and Mid-Valley league fifth-place finishers against fourth-place district finishers from the Kingco League told the tale.

The matches advanced the winner into the round of eight regional and Eastern Washington wrestlers won 13 of 14 matches.

From there, the first round was formful, setting up key matches between EV’s Mike Shull and WV’s Ty Roberts in a 158-pound semifinal and EV’s Matt Jolley against Eastmont’s Nick Prazer at 190 pounds.

Semifinal- and consolation-round competition begins at 10 a.m. today with the top five finishers per weight class qualifying for state.

District 7 2A

A formful first day of the Great Northern League’s state qualifying meet will give way to a heated conclusion.

The four top-seeded wrestlers remain in each weight. Two wrestlers per weight qualify for state.

Thus, today’s semifinals, which begin at 1 p.m. at Mead High, are huge.

In two matches of note, Riverside state veteran Brandon Morris beat Medical Lake sophomore league unbeaten Micah Cruger 5-0 at 141 pounds. And at 148, Lakeside’s Shawn Close pulled out an 8-7 win over Colville’s Shawn Rielly in an important 148-pound match.

Colville took a first-day lead with 139 points and has a tournament-high 15 semifinalists. Lakeside, which has 128 points, has 11 semifinalists, Medical Lake nine and Riverside seven.

Region III 1A/B

Semifinalists were determined at Reardan, assuring the four unbeatens per weight class a trip to Tacoma next week.

Cashmere leads after the first day and Caribou Trail League wrestlers have 35 of 56 semifinalists.

Kettle Falls leads Northeast A/Bi-County with six semifinalists.

Almira/Coulee-Hartline, including Luke and Craig Winona, has advanced four.