EV Pins Loss On Bucs

GSL wrestling

East Valley 215-pound wrestler Justin Moody is just a sophomore.

But he certainly didn’t wrestle like a novice Wednesday during the Knights’ 40-26 Greater Spokane League triumph over previously unbeaten Rogers.

Moody’s pin over Brian Piper, after falling behind 4-0 on an early throw, helped spark EV to the surprisingly easy victory.

It left the two teams tied for second place behind unbeaten University, which hosts the Pirates tonight.

During other matches, fourth-place Gonzaga Prep beat Central Valley 43-21, Mead defeated North Central 39-26, Mt. Spokane beat Lewis and Clark 36-18, and Ferris won 45-25 over Shadle Park.

East Valley’s hope, given the way the matches fell, was to gain an advantage in its early weight strengths and weather Rogers’ expected superiority in the night’s final four matches.

“The key was getting sticks from me and a couple others,” said Isaiah Hankel, who got the first of four EV pins, “and taking the wind out of their sails.”

Things didn’t exactly go as anticipated, but the results were close enough with Moody’s upset.

“That was a big one,” Pirates coach Shawn Carney agreed. “Brian was beating him 4-0 and it looked like he was handling him.”

A couple of matches earlier, Rogers’ strategy to wrestle John Smith at 160 and Zak DePue at 171 appeared sound when both won.

But of EV’s eight victories, all but one were by major decision or more. Moody’s pin was the biggest.

“I knew what he was going to do,” said Moody, who had lost to Piper this year, “but I wasn’t going to give it to him.”

EV won seven of 10 matches for an insurmountable 34-7 lead. The clincher was Matthew Croskrey’s 18-9 win over Will Jessee in a scramble. Jessee had been unbeaten in league.

“Matthew did a nice job,” said coach Craig Hanson. “He kept winning the back-points battle.”

Now the Knights, who wrestle Gonzaga Prep in its finale next week, must root for Rogers against U-Hi for a chance at a three-way share of the GSL title.

“I’m hoping this upsets us a little and we can use it to our advantage,” said Carney of the loss. “We were a little complacent and didn’t have the fire we needed to have.”

It took the Bullpups (6-2) a while to get started, but Eli Hansen started a run in the night’s last eight matches to beat CV (3-4).

Hansen won 4-2 over J.J. Quick at 275, the first of six victories that included wins for league unbeatens Jeff Zappone and Luke Kuhn to pull away after leading by just three points.

Ferris moved several wrestlers, from 112-pound Doug Baker on, up a weight. The gambit paid off in the Saxons’ (6-1) first win of the season, over the Highlanders (1-7).

The Saxons won eight of the last nine matches, including all but Shadle 130-pounder Danny Largent, from 112 through 140, to rally from a 19-6 deficit.

Ryan Van Doren beat Ezra Bocook at 171 pounds in the night’s best match and Mead (4-3) slipped past NC (4-4).

Van Doren’s 5-0 win gave the Panthers a 12-6 lead they never relinquished despite the fact the Indians won the night’s final three matches.

Mt. Spokane (2-6) won for the second straight outing by building a 27-0 lead over LC’s Tigers (0-7), including pins by Tyler Howerton and Ben Riddle.

In a dandy match, Paul Evenson rallied from a four-point deficit in the third round, earning three takedowns for an 11-10 win over Ken Gifford.