Mead throttles Ferris

Mead wrestling coach Phil McLean figured his team could win eight matches against Ferris in a Greater Spokane League showdown between a pair of two-loss teams.

He didn’t anticipate the landslide that was the Panthers’ 51-16 rout Wednesday night at Mead.

Ferris (6-3) was coming off last week’s upset of league co-leader East Valley, a team that had defeated Mead the previous week.

But in this one the Panthers (6-2) rattled off five straight pins for a 30-6 lead and picked up five more victories on the way to a convincing victory.

“That was a shocker,” said McLean of the wide scoring differential. “There were a lot of pins tonight, which was surprising.”

The night started promisingly enough when Ferris’ Christian Alexander broke a 1-1 tie with an underhook throw and pin with 27 seconds remaining at 189 pounds.

But once Jacob Trotter reciprocated for the Panthers, with 5 seconds remaining in overtime of a 3-3 deadlock no less, the deluge was on.

“Call it crowd suspense,” said Trotter. “Usually, I wait until someone else scores and can outlast them, but he knew my offense is defense. It was a good way to start after the first match.”

Mead followed with four more pins, picking up 12 points in a minute when 103-pounder Sam Edminster got his fall in 13 seconds and Anthony Bond followed at 112 with another in 48 seconds.

The first decision, in the night’s seventh match, was by state placer Philip Smith at 125 to give the Panthers a 33-6 advantage, a mountain too steep for Ferris to climb.

The Saxons did manage three straight victories, but two were by one point.

“We match up with them a little better,” said McLean. “They’re tough in the middle weights where we are good.”

The capper came at 145 where Nick Bond, trailing 4-1 midway through the third period, secured a head and arm and threw Max Coulson to his back for Mead’s final pin of the night for an insurmountable 39-16 lead.

“He kind of just walked into it,” said Bond of the move. “He’s a defensive wrestler and was hanging on. I was just happy to catch him with something and stuck him.”

The league’s other matches were also one-sided. Host Central Valley (8-1) shut out North Central (2-6) 67-0. … East Valley (7-1) whipped visiting Mt. Spokane (4-4) 51-16, winning the last five matches. … In the night’s closest match, University (6-2) topped Gonzaga Prep (0-8) at home 52-26. G-Prep’s Chris Triplett beat Jacob Mason at the buzzer in overtime at 145. … Shadle Park (3-5) won at Rogers (2-6) 52-17. At 112 in a match between regional veterans, Jacob Harkness edged Justin Trevino 5-4 with a late near fall.

•Lakeland saw a little too much of the Booth brothers in an Inland Empire League match. Chad (103 pounds), Danny (145) and Ryan (152) all notched pins to lead Post Falls to a 54-30 victory over the Hawks in Post Falls. … Sandpoint collected eight pins in defeating host Lake City, 69-9.

•Riverside used seven pins, including five straight to close out the match – three of those by the DesRoches brothers, Nick (152), Jacob (160) and Ryan (171) – to roll to a 62-9 victory over West Valley in Great Northern League play at WV.

Gymnastics

University used a 1-2-3 finish in the balance beam to post a victory in a four-way Greater Spokane League meet at Lewis and Clark.

Stacie Davis won the beam and finished third in all-around to help U-Hi pile up 158.15 points, easily outdistancing runner-up Mt. Spokane with 145.975. Lakeside (133.925) was third and LC (117.45) fourth.

Mt. Spokane’s Meghan Ballou won all-around with 33.9 points, followed by Lakeside’s Loreah Winlow.

Boys basketball

Rory Ruskovich hit four 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 14 points to lead Coeur d’Alene Charter (5-5) to a 44-37 victory over visiting House of the Lord in non-league action.