NC falls in 3A final

North Central landed squarely in the middle of a Hornets nest Saturday during the Washington Dream Duals at East Valley.

The Indians, wrestling Enumclaw for the 3A championship, were stung early and never recovered.

The Hornets built a 19-0 lead and led by as many as 24 points, ultimately winning the title 40-24.

Other boys champions were Moses Lake in 4A, with a 45-28 victory over Rogers of Puyallup, Deer Park in the abbreviated 2A class, and Orting via a 35-30 win over Warden in 1A. Warden won the girls title.

Enumclaw showed few discernible holes while winning eight of 14 individual matches. A key loss at 125 pounds and the inability to secure any pins, while the Hornets had four and a forfeit, proved NC’s undoing.

“They’ve been taught to believe you give little points, not big ones,” Enumclaw coach Lee Reichert said. “We’ll give you three (losing a decision) but not six (getting pinned).”

On one wrestling Web site, NC was ranked second among 3A teams and Enumclaw sixth in state. But the Indians found themselves facing sturdy opposition and a 19-point hole after four matches. At 125 pounds Hunter File beat state placer Jared Berlinger, wrestling up a weight, 8-2.

NC rallied back with three straight victories and nearly cut the score to 19-16 when Jeremiah Yates, trailing 12-4, put Chance Mitchell on his back. But he couldn’t finish, suffered the loss and Enumclaw state veterans Josh Musick, who placed third at state last year, and Kario Wallin pinned at 152 and 160, respectively, for a 34-10 lead.

“We wrestled great all weekend,” NC coach Luke Leifer said. “We lost a couple position battles and missed opportunities when we had them on their back and did not put the nail in the coffin.”

Two NC state veterans, Nathan Brown and Ben Carter, won against tough foes, as did Jace Clary and Tanner Robinson. It took Robinson, winning 9-1 at 135, the better part of his match to solve Andrew Fox, who personified the strength in Enumclaw’s lineup if not the finesse.

“It was weird,” Robinson said. “I started to figure it out at the end of the third round. I became quicker and got past his hands, rather than try to out-brute him.”

The Indians (2-1) roared past Bellevue 57-16 and Union 52-21 in pool to reach the finals. Enumclaw (3-0) whipped East Valley 41-19 and Renegade 69-12.

“We just came over to get a good test,” Reichert said, “and give us an idea what’s out there. We’re excited to win.”

Deer Park (3-0 plus a forfeit over Riverside) slipped past Othello 31-27 for the 2A title, rallying from a 27-6 deficit by winning six straight matches, including Blake Adams’ decider by pin.

Because there were only three 2A entrants the Stags wrestled an exhibition with Rogers-Puyallup and tied the 4A school 31-31 on Shawn Burton’s overtime victory at 285. They received a criteria point to break the tie, winning officially 32-31.

The 4A and 1A championship matches were exciting back-and-forth contests. Moses Lake (3-0) trailed 28-21 through 160 pounds, but won the final four matches by second-period pins to get away from Rogers (2-1). The 4A field was without powerhouse University and Lake Stevens was short-handed for disciplinary reasons.

State 1A power Orting (3-0) fell behind Warden (2-1) 9-0, took a 20-9 lead, fell behind again by a point, then won four of the final six matches to survive.

Other Spokane-area teams to place were Mead (2-1), which beat Central Valley (1-2) 44-17 in the 4A match for third and fourth. The Panthers topped Lake Stevens 39-17.

Third-place finishers were Riverside (2A) and Lakeside (1A) and host EV (3A) placed fourth.