Knights, Bears, Titans wrestlers matched at 3-0 so far for season

Greater Spokane League wrestling trio East Valley, Central Valley and University reached the mid-point of the dual match season with identical 3-0 records.

They won’t resume league competition until Jan. 4 but are currently involved at the Tri-State tournament in Coeur d’Alene one of several invitational meets for local wrestlers between now and mid-January.

Included is U-Hi’s first appearance at the Pacific Coast Tournament in Vancouver, Wash., the weekend after Christmas.

“It’s probably one of the best in the Pacific Northwest,” said Titans coach Don Owen. “We’ll see if we can get our kids tested.”

University got past two of its three National Division challengers last week to gain early command. Only North Central on Jan. 18 stands in the way of a title.

The Titans fell behind Lewis and Clark 12-0 but in less than half an hour build a 42-12 lead en route to Wednesday’s 56-18 win. On Thursday they won four of the night’s final five matches to defeat Clarkston 45-24. Greg Mitchell, Nick Zumwalt, Dono Totten and Pat Belknap were victorious between 160 and 103 pounds.

The Knights beat Shadle Park 59-3, it’s only loss by a point, and 49-18 over Mt. Spokane. They took a 14-0 lead on major decisions by Matt Melbrech and Sonny Tran and pin by Eric Eagleburger and scored the night’s final 22 points.

CV beat Ferris 50-9 and Cheney 49-19. They trailed the Blackhawks 12-6 early, but won eight of the last 10 matches, including, in succession, from 140 through 160 pounds by Lucas Chesher, Jeff Croskrey, Nick Walker and Camren Ebat.

EV and CV finished first and second in the American Division of the GSL last year. They wrestle for first place Jan. 5 and each faces unbeaten Mead Jan. 11 and Jan. 18 to determine which two reaches the league championship series.

Gymnastics revelation

University’s gymnasts didn’t win against defending champion Mead, but there were some revelations for the Titans in the narrow 162.1 to 159.0 defeat.

“As a team, the girls were able to raise their score by almost six points in less than a week,” said co-coach Tracy Duncan in an e-mail.

That, she added, still included some mistakes like falls off the balance beam and a couple of broken series.

And Taylor Wold performed a move for the first time that was inspirational, said her coach.

“Never once has Taylor Wold thrown her back tuck without numerous drills. Never once has Taylor Wold thrown a back tuck on a mat by herself, or without first having me spot her,” said Duncan via the e-mail. “Taylor did not throw even one back tuck this week in practice. To my utter surprise, without any warm-up, discussion or hint, Taylor threw her back tuck in the meet. I literally fell to the floor.”

Wold had the team’s second highest floor routine without the tuck so the skill was a huge step said her coach.

Kayla McGahey won bars and was second on vault. Other girls also raised the competitive bar.

“They now believe what their potential is, Karen (Renner) and I have no doubt where this group of gymnasts can go,” Duncan said.

Central Valley also cracked the 159 point mark during a year of more stringent scoring, beating Shadle Park 159.425 to 151.50, and North Central and Mt. Spokane.

Maya Morgan and Maria Alderman finished second and third all around and went one-two on vault. Alderman was second during floor exercise and third on bars. Morgan was second on beam.

WV to honor coaches

Four former coaches and West Valley basketball alumni will take center stage Dec. 28 to commemorate more than 40 years of history in the school gymnasium.

The gym will make way for a new one next year as part of the school remodeling project.

The coaches, Jud Heathcote, Al Snyder, Duane Ranniger and Joe Feist, represent nearly half a century of WV basketball, from the 1950-51 season through 1998-99.

Among them they won some 15 championships and accounted for a dozen state tournament appearances while playing in the City, Border and Frontier leagues.

Heathcote, 14 years at WV, went on to a stellar college career, winning the NCAA championship at Michigan State. Snyder coached 10 years, Ranniger eight and Feist 13. He made four more state appearances coaching at Chewelah, including a State 2A title.

Games and festivities will begin at 7 p.m. For information, contact current coach Jamie Nilles (three state tourneys in six years as coach) at 922-5488, 998-8433 or by e-mail at Jamie.nilles@wvsd.com.