GSL wrestling
Defending league champion: East Valley.
Projected finish: American Division–East Valley (veteran team seeks fourth straight league title in toughest division); Central Valley (improved dual team from last year’s third-place finisher); Mt. Spokane (transfers make veteran team solid top to bottom, if not deep); Mead (strong at lower, upper weights); Cheney (seeking break-even dual year); Ferris (better in postseason); Shadle Park (higher numbers, but young).
National Division–University (last year’s league runner-up is tourney seasoned in low through upper-middle and at least two deep everywhere); North Central (will be solid once everyone is in lineup); Clarkston (must replace graduated senior state crew from fourth-place team); Lewis and Clark (talented youth, large turnout, but four vets didn’t come back); Gonzaga Prep (nearly all-sophomore lineup, but youth movement will begin to pay off); Rogers (strong back-to-back freshman classes and senior experience means improvement); West Valley (bigger and better numbers, but lack of seniors hurts).
Returning state champions: Cory Fish, sr., U-Hi, 103; Kyle Yonago, sr., Ferris, 140.
Returning regional champions: Fish, Yonago, Nate Powell, sr., LC, 119 (3rd in state); Jeremy Montang, sr., U-Hi, 130 (3rd in state). Neil Didier, sr., Mead, 152 (4th in state). Fred Arnold, sr., EV 160 (7th in state).
Returning district champions: Fish; Taylor Yonago, jr., Ferris (7th in state); Powell; Jared Imes, sr., EV (7th in state); Kyle Yonago; Camren Ebat, jr., CV; Arnold.
Wrestlers to watch: Derek Brown, sr., NC, 3rd in state, 171; Trevor Robb, sr., U-Hi, 6th in state, 125; Lucas Chesher, jr., CV, 8th in state, 119; Drew Beaudoin, sr., EV, 8th in state 140; Jason Fairley, jr., Clarkston, 3A state champion (2003), 103; Blake Risk, sr., Cheney, 6th in 3A state, 125; Kodey Desjardan, jr., Clarkston, 8th in 3A state, 103; Matt Hanson, Chris Helm and Joe Plumb, seniors, EV; Marc Whipple, sr., G-Prep; Trevor Powell, so., LC; Ian Matson, jr., Dan Freese, sr., Paul Senescal, jr., Mead; Braun Murray and Matt Pea, seniors., Mt. Spokane; Scott Harris, Richard Mobley, Mike Clute, seniors, NC; Jeremy Pratt, sr., Shadle; Ryan Williams, sophomore, Chase Fish and Mike Malsam, juniors, Jon Sahlberg, Nick Zumwalt, Matt Machala, Tim Owen and Tyler Goss, seniors, U-Hi; Earl Bandy, sr., and Alex Barham, jr., Clarkston; Nolan Pegg, sr., Cheney; Jeff Degenhardt, sr., WV.
Outlook: The shift of U-Hi from the American to the National Division of the GSL and the move of EV and NCl into 3A alters the wrestling landscape a bit. The Knights will be chased by CV, Mead and Mt. Spokane in the American, the Titans by NC and Clarkston in the National and both will likely meet for the overall league title at season’s end. … Once in postseason, both the Knights and Titans will be among state trophy favorites and are potential title contenders in their respective classifications.
Quotable: “This is the best team, on paper, in University High annals. With East Valley’s move to 3A we could qualify record numbers to state, with three high finishers and six other chances for placers.”— Don Owen, U-Hi coach.
Notable: Nineteen State 4A qualifiers are among the 25 regional top-six placers back for another go as the 2004-05 season begins. … All told, 51 of the GSL’s 84 4A district top-six, 33 of them regional veterans, are back. Of those, U-Hi has 12 district placers in its lineup, a whopping 10 of them regional qualifiers and six of them state veterans. … EV moves 11 of theirs and NC five into 3A. … U-Hi freshman Brian Owen was Cadet National champion last summer and will fill 103 pounds for the Titans. CV’s Lucas Chesher was Junior National All-American with seventh-place finish. … Ferris’ Taylor Yonago is recovering from a broken ankle, but will return in January. … In the Washington Wrestling Coaches preseason poll, U-Hi and EV are ranked third in the 4A and 3A, respectively (Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls, from the Great Northern League is ranked first among 2A schools).