East Valley gets big help from smallest wrestlers
East Valley’s three smallest wrestlers came up big as the Knights came from behind for a 39-21 victory over Central Valley in a match of unbeaten teams in the rugged Greater Spokane League’s American Division.
The trio won the night’s final seven bouts to wipe out a 21-9 deficit, none more vital than the two-point decisions by 103-pound junior Kyle Hunter and 112-pound sophomore Anthony Rivera that assured the outcome.
Matt Melbrech, a 119-pound sophomore, put the exclamation point on the rally with a second-period pin.
“I knew that since we started at 125 pounds it would be a close one by the time they got to my match,” said Hunter. “I said me, Anthony and Matt were going to be the three that wins this thing so let’s get in it.”
He scored an early takedown and near fall, despite possibly breaking his thumb, and made it stand up for a 7-5 win over Justin Walker.
“That was a gutsy thing on his part to stay in the match and not complain,” said coach Craig Hanson.
Rivera, though his condition was questionable because of illness, followed with a match-clinching 4-2 overtime victory after Nick Cambron’s reversal with 35 seconds left forced the sudden death extra minute.
“The kids are coming along,” said Hanson. “I’m happy for Melbrech because he just added a takedown (move) this week and did a good job of it.”
If CV (3-1) were to have won the match it would have been in the four lighter weights. Freshman Tyler Simmet got the team off to a nice start at 125 with his 4-2 thriller over senior Eric Eagleburger.
“Coach just said this was a huge match for us,” said Simmet, who added he didn’t think about the age and experience disparity. “You just go out there for 6 minutes as hard as you can.”
The Bears wrestled well in fashioning the 21-9 lead with five wins, two of them pins, before facing EV’s big guns from 171 pounds on up.
But it ultimately came down to the 103- and 112-pound matches that pitted league unbeaten wrestlers against each other.
“I thought they could go either way,” Hanson said. “I’ve got to say it’s nice having competition like that, and I’m really glad we’re on this side of the (GSL) bracket. It was a very good win for us.”
The Knights (5-0) are off until Jan. 18 when they travel to Mead (4-0).
Elsewhere, Mead whipped visiting Cheney (1-3) 63-13, including Ryan Peck’s upset pin of Cash Anderson at 145 pounds. It was one of nine pins among Mead’s 11 victories … Mt. Spokane (1-4) won for the first time, 37-23 over Shadle Park (1-3), with Corbin Richardson‘s 10-8 overtime victory against Damien Crooks at 145 looming large late in the match. … In the National Division, league unbeaten 215-pounder Jon Tyler won by pin in the final match as North Central (3-1) beat West Valley (1-4) 36-35. The Indians trailed 16-6, then won five straight matches for a 30-16 lead before the Eagles rallied. … University (4-0) used mainly second-string wrestlers in beating Gonzaga Prep (1-4) 43-25. State placer Chase Fish won 11-2 over Bullpups league unbeaten Gabe Ahl. … Clarkston (3-1) won 12 of 14 matches, nine by pin, in a 66-9 victory over Rogers (0-4). Mike Holloman remained unbeaten for the Pirates.
•Riverside (2-0 Great Northern League) won 39-32 in Pullman (0-1) as Tyler Johnson broke a 5-5 tie and pinned Jared Druffel at 189 pounds in the second period. Kyle Druffel‘s pin a match earlier had positioned the Greyhounds for a victory opportunity. … Medical Lake (1-0) beat visiting Colville 44-21 with two runs of five straight victories. Included was Justin Linafelter‘s 12-7 win over Jace Berg at 135 pounds. … Six straight wins in midmatch lifted Lakeside (1-0) over visiting Deer Park (0-1) at Nine Mile Falls. Wes McAdam (152), Ryan Burgess (160), Jon Millard (171) and Dustin Baldwin (189) won successive quick first-period pins.