Orton comes through with pin; East Valley secures first place

The wrestling match was on the line, and East Valley’s Foster Orton was up last.

“It’s pretty intense,” EV’s senior 160-pounder said. “It really puts pressure on you.”

Orton responded with a pin 30 seconds into the second period of his match with Ian Tyrell, and with it the Knights (6-0) secured the championship of the Greater Spokane League American Division with a 36-25 victory at Mead on Wednesday.

Coupled with Clarkston’s comeback 37-30 triumph at Lewis and Clark in the National Division, the pairings are set for the GSL dual title series that starts Wednesday.

They are the same as in the previous three years. The Knights will host Clarkston (5-1), second place in the National.

University (6-0), the champion of the National Division, will face American runner-up Central Valley (5-1) six days after they square off in tonight’s Battle of the Bone.

The EV-Mead wrestling match was a back-and-forth affair that wasn’t decided until Orton countered Tyrrel’s throw attempt and smothered him.

“I pinned him earlier in the year but heard he got better, so it put me on my toes,” Orton said. “I needed to pin the kid and not get pinned is what I thought.”

Both teams essentially traded points in a thriller that EV led early with three victories in the first four upper weights. But Mead rallied for a 12-11 advantage on Philip Smith’s 12-10 overtime victory over Anthony Rivera at 112 pounds.

Rivera built an 8-2 first-period lead before Smith worked his way back into it with reversal and two takedowns in the third period. His takedown with 14 seconds left in the overtime minute won it.

It’s been a disconcerting pattern, said Mead coach Phil McLean, that has carried back to a tournament in Snohomish in which he won every match the same way.

“He’s got to quit doing that,” McLean said. “He makes it exciting, though.”

“Just to come back like that is amazing,” Smith said. “Oh, my goodness.”

EV went back in front on a pin, and Mead won twice to regain the lead 21-18. The Knights then won three matches between 135 and 145 to lead 30-21 with two matches left.

It was win or get pinned for EV to determine the winner when Foster and Tyrrel took the mat. Foster won and, for good effect, it was by a pin.

“I thought we were going to win (the previous match) at 152,” said EV coach Craig Hanson. Instead, Mead prevailed in the weight. “We were in trouble at the point. But we’re in contention again. At the start of the year I didn’t think we’d be here. All the young kids kind of grew up.”

Mead wound up third, two individual match victories away this season from winning the division title undefeated.

“I’m happy,” McLean said. “The kids competed hard.”

In the match to determine second place in the National Division, LC (4-2) led 30-23 by winning four straight matches between 125 and 140 pounds, including pins by Trevor Powell and Anthony Varnell. But Jason Fairley started the final four matches with a technical fall at 145 and Mike Girieth won 5-2 at 171 to clinch a berth in the championship duals for Clarkston. … Trailing 6-0, U-Hi reeled off 35 straight points in six consecutive matches for a 53-22 win at North Central (3-3). Included were a technical fall by Nick Bickley and pin by Danny Jordan to start it. … CV topped host Shadle Park (2-4) 38-24. In the match of the night, Mike Chiesa of Shadle gave state champion Lucas Chesher a battle at 145 before losing 8-3. CV got back-to-back pins from Dan Gadley at 275 and Justin Walker at 103 to take control. … Rogers (1-5) won its first dual match in two years, 38-29 over visiting Gonzaga Prep (1-5). Mike Holloman of Rogers remained unbeaten in GSL with a pin at 160. … Cheney (2-4) posted a 48-26 win at Ferris (0-6) in a match that featured seven Blackhawks pins.

“Six weight class wins between 152 and 275 pounds provided Colville (1-2) with a 35-33 win at Deer Park (0-3) in the Great Northern League. The Stags rallied with five late match triumphs, but fell short.

Gymnastics

Courtney Sexton placed first in the all-around and teammate Maya Morgan finished fourth as Central Valley won a Greater Spokane League gymnastics meet with a score of 160.95 points at Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls). Sexton finished on top in the balance beam and floor exercise and had a runner-up finish in the uneven bars on her way to an overall score of 34.1. Rogers’ Kayla Clark scored first in the vault and was second all-around at 33.55. Kaysha Bowton of Ferris took third at 32.85. Ferris finished behind the Bears with a score of 153.25. The host Eagles came in third at 150.45, and Rogers followed at 149.