Best showing
At last week’s state tournament, Inland Northwest high school wrestlers seemed to make Mat Classic XVII at the Tacoma Dome old-home week. University took team honors in Class 4A, while Lakeside captured the team title in Class 2A. Many other schools had impressive performances, but none may have been as inspiring as that of Liberty in the 1A/B tournament. “We had a great season,” said Lancer coach Dom Duncan. “Obviously, we would have liked to have gotten our whole team there (to state), but six out of eight set a new record for our school.”
The Class B Lancers from southern Spokane County finished 12th overall and second among B schools with 57 points, despite having just six wrestlers in the 14 weight classes.
“I think it’s the highest our school has finished in the history of our wrestling program,” Duncan said. “It’s a great thing for the kids.
“As well as they wrestled, it proved the coaching staff’s theory that we were a good team, not to worry about the dual meet (record), but we would show it when the time counted.”
Liberty’s success in the postseason may have been a surprise to those who saw the Lancers finish below .500 in dual meets, but their coach knew his team could peak at the state level.
“With just eight guys, you’re looking at your dual-meet season, and you’re not favored to win a whole lot of dual meets forfeiting six or seven weights, depending on the night,” Duncan said. “The least we ever forfeited was six matches. “Head-to-head matches, the matches we actually wrestled, I think we only got beat one time on the mat. If we got better every time we went out on the mat, we accomplished what we wanted.
“We told them from the first meeting we had this year that the only tournament that mattered was the one at the end of February. Everything was geared toward getting better and making it there.
“I kept telling our kids we were looking forward to the postseason, and we’ll prove to people how good we are then.”
State champion Brice Williams at 119 pounds led the Lancers. The senior pinned Matt Ellingson of Concrete at the 3:35 mark in the championship match to cap his senior season.
“He was a great leader,” Duncan said. “He motivated guys and kept the team up. He was one of those guys that got things rolling.
“He and Brian (Mumby) were one of our first guys up, and when they got wins, it got everybody excited.
“He worked extremely hard. He deserved everything he got this year.”
Liberty sophomore Adam Thies finished third at 135 pounds, while junior Andrew Smith took sixth at 140 pounds.
“He (Thies) had a great season. He finished third, and we’re looking for him to come back just as strong next year and take the next step, and hopefully win next year as a junior.
“Our region at 140 was tough. The Freeman invite had the top three ranked kids in the state at that tourney.
“He (Smith) also had a great season. We’re looking for some great things from him next year.”
Mumby, a 119-pound freshman, 160-pound junior Zach Skaggs, and 275-pound senior Nate Stehr also made the trip to state for the Lancers.
“We took what we had, and we worked hard,” Duncan said. “Every one of the kids who made it there (to state) deserved to be there.
“I’m hoping with the success we had, we’re going to get some kids out. We have three or four incoming freshmen that are going to be tough, and we only lose three seniors.
“We’re also returning four state participants.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good future, and if we can get the numbers to fill the weights out, we’ll be right there competing for the league championship.”
Other state wrestling results
As for other South Side and West Plains schools that competed at the Mat Classic, Ferris took 19th place in the 4A competition with 29 points.
The Saxons were led by Kyle Yonago, who finished second at 140 pounds. His younger brother Taylor took fifth at 125 pounds.
Also in 4A, the Lewis and Clark sophomore Anthony Yarnell placed third at 135 pounds.
In the 3A competition, the Cheney Blackhawks ended up in a tie for 20th in the team standings with 28 points. Cheney was paced by Blake Risk’s second place at 130 pounds.
Medical Lake placed 11th in 2A competition with 55 points. The Cardinals’ David Snyder finished third at 140 pounds. Garrett Raulston placed fifth at 189, while Tony Fino at 112 and Brad Groce at 152 each finished sixth.