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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Central Valley earns berth in GSL playoff

When Central Valley and Mt. Spokane met with the final berth at stake in next week’s four-team Greater Spokane League wrestling championship playoffs, the outcome figured to be anybody’s guess.

But several young Bears came through at home with victories. The resulting 36-21 outcome gave them outright possession of second place in the American Division of the league with a 5-1 record.

“Making the final four was our goal,” Bears coach John Owen said. “It sets a standard for our program. And it’s more significant in terms of us being in a tougher division this year. We had to go through Mead and Mt. Spokane (3-3) and to do that is special.”

Going into the match there was a possibility of a three-way tie among CV, Mead and Mt. Spokane for second. It would have necessitated a tiebreaker that would have been determined by the most total points scored by each in their two matches against the others.

The Bears’ Garrett McCoy, a 7-1 winner over Ryan Rabe at 119 pounds in what figured to be a tossup match, and a couple of one-point winners – Tanner Teeples at 112 and Jeff Croskrey on a last-second escape at 135 – plus a contested 3-1 overtime decision at 215, proved instrumental in the victory.

Teeples had built a 9-2 lead through three rounds over Gagnadeep Thandi in the night’s opening contest, but Thandi’s furious finish left Teeples clinging to a 13-12 win.

“Looking back now, that was the key,” Owen said. “We slipped out of there.”

McCoy followed with his conservative and well-wrestled approach, riding out Rabe in the second period and taking advantage of his forte with three takedowns, two of them in the final round.

“I like to be aggressive on my feet,” McCoy said. “I wait until something opens up though. I don’t just take blind shots.”

With that win, it was incumbent on the Wildcats, whose Tanner Russell had hung on for an 11-10 win over Jeremy Savage in the next match, that they get a win at 135.

Croskrey, however, scurried for a reversal in the match’s final three seconds while trailing 3-2 to pull yet another rabbit out of CV’s hat.

“It was a little closer than I wanted it to be,” the sophomore wrestler said. “I wasn’t wrestling my best. I didn’t take any shots or anything.”

The near-miss offered further evidence that a Mt. Spokane playoff during a season that began with promise simply was not meant to be.

Season-ending injuries to two of the Wildcats’ better wrestlers hit prior to their one-point, 34-33 loss to Mead. They were minus one more standout, 160-pounder Braun Murray against CV. He was resting a back injury.

“It would have been nice to have Braun tonight,” coach Travis Hughes said. “But I’m proud of the guys. They’re doing well. And the guys who need to will be there at the end of the year.”

All told, CV won eight of 14 matches, four of them by pin and at 215 where freshman Tyler Cochran was awarded an overtime takedown against Wildcat’s hard-luck wrestler Bryce Malone, who has lost several close matches in league this year.

East Valley 55, Ferris 6: The Knights (6-0) cruised to an unbeaten American Division title over visiting Ferris (0-6) and will seek their fourth straight league title in the championship quad on Wednesday. They open against Clarkston (5-1). The only Saxons victory in the match was a pin by Taylor Yonago at 125….Mead 41, Shadle Park 31: Trailing 31-17, the host Panthers (4-2) won the final four matches, clinching on Mike Magee’s pin at 275. Derek Rakentine of Shadle (1-5) was trailing Dan Freese by 10 points when he reversed into a pin with 15 seconds left. The Panthers finished third in the American. … University 69, West Valley 3: The Titans (6-0) breezed past the Eagles (1-5) at home to finish unbeaten among National Division teams. U-Hi wrestles CV in the Battle of the Bone tonight and again on Wednesday in the first round of the championship series. Seth Koker’s 12-9 win at 130 was WV’s lone triumph.

North Central 47, Rogers 21: The visiting Indians (3-3) finished as part of a three-way National Division third-place tie. Derek Brown broke a 6-all tie in the third period at 215 pounds to pin Brad Steinmetz. Former NC wrestler Wade Wessels won 11-7 for Rogers (0-6) and Mike Holloman rallied from a 6-2 deficit to win at 145 with a match-ending takedown and near fall. … Lewis and Clark 38, Gonzaga Prep 30: The Tigers (3-3) won the final four matches to rally from a 30-18 deficit at G-Prep (3-3). Wrestling for the first time in five weeks, Prep’s Anthony Varnell moved up a weight to 140 pounds and handed the Tigers’ Jon Healy his first league setback, a 7-6 defeat.

Gymnastics

Shadle takes meet

Meghan Johnson, Sarah Miller and Alis Tortorelli all finished in the top five all-around as Shadle Park racked up 163.15 team points to hold off University and Kayla McGahey’s first-place finish in the all-around in a Greater Spokane League meet at North Central.

McGahey finished with a total of 35.025 points. Johnson took second at 33.975. Katie Sweatt of NC was third at 33.45, Miller fourth at 32.925, and Tortorelli fifth at 32.775.

U-Hi finished second in the team scoring, totaling 160.25 points. NC was third at 144.87 and Lewis and Clark placed fourth with 138.75.

Shadle and U-Hi came into the meet neck-and-neck for second place in the GSL.

Boys basketball

Azzarito leads Kettle Falls

Jason Azzarito scored 21 points, and Robert Rosenthal added 16 on 5-of-8 shooting as Kettle Falls routed visiting Newport 65-30 in Northeast A action.

The Bulldogs outrebounded the Grizzlies 39-23 and held Newport to single-digit scoring in every quarter.

Girls basketball

Edwards wins debut

Liz Beardslee scored 18 points making Tyler Edwards a winner in his debut as a head coach as Kettle Falls beat Newport 62-55 in Northeast A play in Kettle Falls. Maria Barranco had 21 points and Megan Stanley 20 for Newport. … Freeman 69, St. George’s 31: Jessie DePell scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Kaila Floyd added 15 points as the Scotties routed the Dragons in a non-leaguer at Freeman.

Idaho boys basketball

Coeur d’Alene outshoots Moscow

Coeur d’Alene (6-6, 3-2 Inland Empire League), led by 24 points from junior guard Matt Palmer, shot a blistering 60 percent from the field – including 55 percent from 3-point land – to hand first-place Moscow (11-2, 4-2) a loss in Coeur d’Alene.

Guard Jake LeFors had 15 and wing Cody Line had 11 to pace Moscow, which shot 33 percent from the field in the contest.

Intermountain League

Patton leads Kellogg

Seth Patton scored 14 points and Jessy Groth added 11 points as Kellogg (8-6, 3-0) waltzed past Timberlake (4-7, 0-3) 61-39 in Kellogg.