Prep wrestling: Moses Lake adds to history
There were a lot of big numbers thrown around Saturday during the annual Dream Duals tournament at East Valley High School.
Sixteen matches saw the winning team score more than 50 team points.
But for Moses Lake coach Jamie Wise, three numbers stuck out: 1, 109 and 999.
The first, No. 1, represents where Moses Lake finished among a five-team 4A field that included Pasco, Lake Stevens, Central Valley and University. Wise’s Chiefs were 3-0 at the event.
The second number, 109, represents the number of consecutive Western Conference dual meets Lake Stevens has won since 1993 – a number made more impressive following Moses Lake’s 41-26 victory.
The third number, 999, is the number of all-time dual meet victories Moses Lake has posted.
“Beating University puts us at 999 and we have a league meet with Wenatchee coming up this week,” Wise said. “At least, that’s what I’ve been told.”
The Dream Dual title is the second tournament Moses Lake has won in the Spokane Valley. Wise’s team won the Pacific Northwest Classic at U-Hi earlier this month and placed second at the Inland Empire Classic at CV in December.
“Coming to tournaments like these make us better,” Wise said. “These tournaments prepare us for our league season and they help get us ready for the postseason. We need these tournaments to get ready for state, because this is where we get a chance to see all the good teams in the state.
“At this tournament we wrestled against two kids who were national champions – Kelly Kubec from Lake Stevens and Brian Owen from University. Our kid (Matt Palmer) lost to Owen 8-0 at the tournament at U-Hi, but he had a single leg on him a couple of times. He didn’t finish and we’ve been all over him since then. This time he got the single leg and got the takedown. He lost by pin, but he got a takedown on Brian Owen. That’s something you can build on.”
Kelso easily dropped EV in the 3A title match, scoring a 55-12 victory over the host Knights.
The Hilanders roared through the upper weights to take command of the final match.
Tanner Davis, a state alternate a year ago, scored a first-round pin over EV’s Dakota Lawson at 160.
Two-time state placer Andrew Buck, a three-time All-American, upset EV’s Clete Hanson, last year’s state runner-up, scoring a third-period escape to take a 1-0 lead and added an insurance takedown for a 3-0 win at 171.
Josh Miller scored a 7-3 decision over EV’s Dan Michalski at 189.
The Knights forfeited at 215 before their heavyweight, Nic Weyrauch, scored a 9-3 decision.
Mt. Baker rolled through the 2A division, winning all three of its matches to place first.
Royal knocked off Warden 47-12 to capture the 1A division, losing only at 125, 171 and 215 pounds in the championship match.
Reardan, seeded No. 2 among B schools going into the tournament behind Liberty Bell, tamed the Mountain Lions in the final match, scoring a 48-21 decision. Reardan scored four pins in the final, at 152 by Tim Eggleston, at 189 by James Thompson, at 215 by Rory Beckstrom, and at heavyweight by Derek Toney – the final three in the first round.
“We’ve seen Liberty Bell several times before at other tournaments,” Reardan coach Mark Leenhouts said. “Our guys were pretty fired up to get out there and wrestle them. This was a good win for us.
“The thing you worry about in a tournament like this is that you’re peaking too soon. We still have a lot of wrestling to do between now and state.
“We don’t want to put too much emphasis on something like this.”
“Three Sandpoint wrestlers won their weight classes and three area teams finished in the top four at the Clearwater Classic in Lewiston. Lakeland finished second and was led by Zach Horsley, who beat Gonzaga Prep’s Jon Healy in the championship match at 145. Timmy Pepperdine (103), Kyle Meschko (152) and Jared Morris (171) all won their weight classes for the Bulldogs, who finished in third place. Lyle Draper’s win at 160 helped Clarkston finish fourth. Other area winners include G-Prep’s Kevin Healy (130) and Timberlake’s David Hayes (140).