Titans pick apart Central Valley

Privately, Central Valley wrestling coach John Owen worried that his team might be shut out by district rival University, a notion that seemed unlikely given the quality of several athletes in his program.

With the 61-3 shellacking the Titans (7-0) put on his Bears (5-2) on rivalry night in the Greater Spokane League, however, Owen’s fears were nearly realized.

By the time Cory Fish moved up in weight for a 5-0 win over fellow state placer Lucas Chesher at 125 pounds, denying the Bears a second individual victory, the team outcome had long been a foregone conclusion.

The victory in the annual Battle of the Bone came in front of a rowdy crowd approaching 2,000. U-Hi won for the ninth time with the worst beating administered in the history of the event.

The outcome defined the excellence of this year’s Titans while issuing a warning of what to expect come postseason.

Not only is this coach Don Owen’s best Titans team on the mat, but their depth is such that he was able to bump several athletes up from their normal weight to wrestle quality seconds and still dominate.

“We were wrestling on all cylinders tonight,” Don Owen said. “We’ve got a lot of seniors in a big match with a lot of drama. Most have three years wrestling in the Bone and CV’s are in it for the first time. It makes a difference.”

True, except that CV’s only victory, 14-7 by state veteran Camren Ebat, came over Dan Jordan, a freshman first-time participant who valiantly kept the decision to three team points.

It came after Tyler Goss, in a scoreless deadlock with Nick Walker at 145, rode the energy of the night to lever his opponent into a second-round pin and 10-0 U-Hi lead.

“There’s no feeling like it I’ve ever felt,” said Goss of the annual match. “It’s just a great feeling to go out there.”

That was the first of six pins, four of them in succession, that bumped U-Hi’s lead to 34-3 midway through the contest.

The last of the four came at 215, where Joey Korn, typically a 189 pounder, was giving away nearly 25 pounds to freshman Tyler Cochran. The size differential was such that Korn kept being lifted precariously into the air even as he worked diligently for the cradle that ultimately broke a scoreless deadlock with 31 seconds left.

How did he accomplish it?

“It was difficult,” Korn said. “But anything I had to do I was going to do to win.”

Brian Owen’s technical fall at 103 secured the team victory for the Titans with five matches still to be wrestled.

U-Hi won them all.

“Every one of our kids wrestled really well,” said Owen. “When you have an event that gets this many people in the house, you want to win for the school and for the wrestling program. And I’m blessed. I’ve been coaching for about 25 years and never had a crew quite like this. They deserve a lot of accolades for what they do.”

Ferris 36, Lewis and Clark 30: At Ferris, Kyle Yonago wrestled his first match since breaking his hand during Christmas break, pinning Kyle Hannula in the first round at 145 to lead the host Saxons. Also for Ferris, Jordan Reese scored a 10-8 victory over Andrew Bodenstein at 103 and Donovan O’Neil threw Robert McGrellis at the beginning of the pivotal 189-pound match, going on to earn an 8-3 victory. … East Valley 47, West Valley 6: The Eagles won two of the first three matches of the night on their home mats, then saw the Knights score 11 straight wins to get the win. Only four matches lasted all six minutes. In the match of the night, the Knights’ Matt Keller earned a 16-10 victory over Andrew Connelly at 125. … Mead 64, Rogers 12: The host Panthers scored seven pins and the Pirates forced to forfeit at two weights. Mead’s Paul Senescal (215) remained undefeated in the GSL by pinning Brad Steinmentz at 1:46 of the first period. … North Central 43, Shadle Park 22: The host Indians won the battle for the “Stinky Singlet.” Jon Tyler was down 6-2 at 215 but came back to score a second-period pin for NC. Jamie Ramsey (103) of the Indians won in his first varsity match. NC’s Derek Brown remained undefeated at 189. … Mt. Spokane 56, Gonzaga Prep 11: Tanner Russell (125) had the highlight of the night for visiting Wildcats, earning a pin in 16 seconds. The Bullpups’ Chris Katus, who placed sixth at Idaho’s state tournament, earned an 8-5 victory over Drew McKinney at 130. …Clarkston 45, Cheney 30: The visiting Bantams defeated the Blackhawks. Clarkston won four straight matches, from 135 through 152, to take control. State placer Blake Risk won by pin at 130 as the Blackhawks celebrated the 50th anniversary of wrestling at their school. … Playoffs start next week for the top teams.