Hunch Pays Dividends Late Lineup Switch Helps East Valley Top Rogers

GSL Wrestling

East Valley wrestling coach Craig Hanson went with his gut feeling and it produced the desired result.

Matthew Croskrey filled in at 135 pounds to beat Ryan Meenach as the Knights defeated Rogers 33-18 in a Greater Spokane League seasonopening feature match.

The tournament-seasoned Croskrey, normally a 125-pounder, weighed in at 130, but Hanson said he hadn’t planned to use him.

“Another kid was slated to go in there,” said Hanson. “It was a gut decision to put Matthew in against their tough kid because I knew he wouldn’t give up many points. If he lost, he’d lose close.”

Instead he scored a 4-0 decision to stem a Pirates rally and give the Knights a 21-12 lead. Two matches later, Nate Knodel won by first-round pin and Jim Richardson clinched victory in the next-to-last match with a 9-3 win after moving up a weight to 160 pounds.

In other Greater Spokane League contests, new coaches Dusty Roberts of Gonzaga Prep, Troy Hughes of Mt. Spokane and Phil McLean, who left Prep for Mead, were successful in their debuts.

The Bullpups won a last-ditch 40-34 win over Central Valley, Mt. Spokane beat Lewis and Clark 47-28 and Mead beat North Central 40-23.

In the night’s other match, Ferris defeated Shadle Park 47-21. At Rogers, EV got off to a quick start with successive pins by Tony Michalski at 189 pounds and Justin Moody at 215. Courtney Howard followed with a 4-2 victory over Brian Piper, who was bumped up a weight.

“I went into the match knowing I could win,” said Howard. “Moody beat him and he and I work out together and are pretty close.”

Rogers bounced back when Matt Karber nipped EV freshman T.C. Imes by a point. It was one of seven matches decided by two or fewer points during the contest.

“I thought I had to go out and get a win,” said Karber, “and get the team riled up so maybe we’d win the match.”

Pirates coach Shawn Carney bumped five wrestlers up a weight in an attempt to rally. Four of them won to cut into EV’s 15-point margin. But Croskrey’s win righted the ship despite giving away considerable size.

“That happens sometimes,” he said. “I just tried to get in on a leg, block his ride and stay in tight.”

EV travels to University tonight to face the defending league champions in the second of its matches against GSL title contenders.

“It’s a tough week with Rogers and University right off the bat,” said Hanson. “We surprised even ourselves. The kids have wrestled beyond where we thought we’d be.”

At Gonzaga, Prep’s Karl Koehler broke a 34-all stalemate with his lastmatch second-period pin to give the Bullpups their thrilling triumph.

The teams traded pins in pairs at the match’s outset before Gonzaga took a 34-12 lead with five straight wins. Included were two clutch efforts by Tim Healy and Jason Nolte against tournament-seasoned foes.

CV rallied with three successive pins and Andy Brownson’s major decision leading up to Koehler’s heroics.

At North Central, Mead built an early 27-6 lead, thanks in part to wins by state veterans Ryan Van Doren and Mike Schneider, and Matt McCollum’s pin over Paul White while trailing 6-0. The advantage held up.

Van Doren edged Ezra Bocook 6-4 at 189 pounds in a match between state tournament veterans.

The host Saxons won five straight matches between 119 and 140 to build a 27-6 lead en route to their seasonopening victory over Shadle.

Twins Marvell and Terrell Tullos won by pin and technical fall, backto-back, to start the run.

At Mt. Spokane, freshman 119-pounder Kohl Crecelius also was successful in his GSL debut, winning by pin to kick-start the Wildcats. Mt. Spokane won by pin between 130 and 145, including falls by regional veterans Joe Marek and Josh Jones for a 30-19 lead. LC regional returnees Tyler Menzel and David Kulisch also were victorious.

WRESTLING GSL standings

Team W-L

East Valley 1-0

Ferris 1-0

Gonzaga Prep 1-0

Mead 1-0

Mt. Spokane 1-0

University 0-0

Central Valley 0-1

Lewis and Clark 0-1

North Central 0-1

Rogers 0-1

Shadle Park 0-1

Wednesday’s results

East Valley 33, Rogers 18

Gonzaga Prep 40, Central Valley 34

Mt. Spokane 47, Lewis and Clark 28

Ferris 47, Shadle Park 21

Mead 40, North Central 23

Tonight

(All 7:30 p.m.)

East Valley at University

Lewis and Clark at Shadle Park

Mead at Ferris

North Central at Gonzaga Prep

Rogers at Mt. Spokane