EV escapes Mead’s grip

In a match with plenty of give and take between Greater Spokane League wrestling contenders, East Valley took late.

The Knights won four of the final five matches for near maximum points to erase a nine-point deficit and defeat Mead 40-28.

The victory kept EV (5-0) undefeated and prevented a multiple tie for first place. The host Panthers fell to 4-2.

It was a surprisingly wild contest that included eight pins – four each – and two technical fall victories by the Knights.

“It did surprise me there were so many pins tonight,” victorious coach Craig Hanson said. “I thought they’d get more and we’d have to win some (even) matchups.”

Three pivotal matches that helped keep EV in the contest came early. It was the late push, though, that put the team alone in first place.

Sean Biltoft moved up a weight to contest GSL once-beaten Panther Jake Anderson at 130 pounds. Following a scoreless first round, he escaped and earned a takedown with 15 seconds remaining in the period for a 3-0 win.

“Today at school I figured they’d do something,” Biltoft said of the switch. “I beat him last year 4-3 and was confident going into it.”

Jake Rodriguez followed with a 3-0 win after two scoreless rounds with Kyle Courtney. At 145, Nic Price came off his back twice from six- and five-point deficits for a late second-round pin and 17-16 Knights lead.

A pin by Ben Moore and Drew Comito’s 13-2 win put Mead up 26-17. But EV scored 17 of a possible 18 points with pins by Dakota Lawson and Jordan Berezay following early scares, then Clete Hanson’s technical fall. In the night’s finale, Knight 103-pounder Keith Babington won by pin.

“We talked about switching (Berezay and Hanson, which they did) at 189 and 215,” Hanson said. “We could get nine points or more, but what if it backfired? It was late and we had to catch the points up.”

EV maintains a one-match lead over Central Valley – which beat Ferris 38-25 in a test of 5-1 teams – and University, which topped North Central 40-28.

The host CV Bears (6-1) trailed the Saxons (5-2) 25-6 at one point, but had four pins and two major decisions to run the table. Tyler Simmet edged Josh Rettinghouse 5-3 in a match of 135-pound standouts. … At NC, the Titans (4-1), behind Sean Mott, Carter Smith and Ryan Zumwalt, took a 15-0 lead then traded wins with the Indians (2-4). … Rogers (2-4) beat Gonzaga Prep (0-5) at home 42-30 by moving seven wrestlers up in weight. … At Lewis and Clark, Mt. Spokane (4-3) beat the Tigers (0-7) 53-22. In the one thriller, Wildcat Zach Wilkes outlasted Chris Veium 13-11 at 140 pounds.

•Cheney won the first six matches and cruised past Pullman 52-15 in a Great Northern League match in Pullman. The Blackhawks won 11 of the 14 matches in all. … Elsewhere, Deer Park notched six pins en route to a 61-9 victory over visiting Medical Lake. … Clarkston won the final seven matches by way of pin and topped host West Valley 58-24. … Riverside won 10 of the first 11 matches and eased past visiting Colville 61-17.

PNW Classic

University hosts its annual Pacific Northwest Classic wrestling tournament today and Saturday. First round of the 16-team event begins at 6 p.m. and continues Saturday at 9 a.m. with finals starting at 4 p.m.

Lakeside, third at the Tri-State Tournament in December, and the Titans (fifth) are among several local entrants, joined by Mountain View from Vancouver and Stanwood.

All-tourney pass is $20 per family and individual tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for students.