Mead storms back to top University in clash of Greater Spokane League titans

Mead’s Braeden Harvey has taken the mat enough times in his impressive prep career to know a dual against University gets circled on the calendar early.
Wednesday night’s showdown lived up to the billing as two of the Greater Spokane League’s best teams met for what will likely be the final time this season.
Harvey took care of his business with a first-period pin of University’s Justin Mejia, and the Panthers slammed the door in the night’s final match en route to a 35-29 victory at University High School .
“We always talk in the room about having grit and we showed ours tonight,” Harvey said. “Beating super good opponents like this proves that we have that needed grit to keep pushing through the rest of this season.
With the Panthers making the move back up to the 4A classification this year and University remaining in 3A, what was normally the first of many matchups leading to Mat Classic is now a single chance to put the rest of the state on notice.
“It’s no secret that they’re really tough,” Mead coach Phil McLean said. “We see them in tournaments and stuff, but this dual is different and tonight was as good as it gets.”
The Titans (2-1) got off to a strong start behind victories from Paxon Cunanan and junior Bo Thompson, who earned a major decision win over Mead’s Tyler Vanderdenter. U-Hi’s Sam Thomas followed with a pin to put the Titans in control quickly.
The Panthers (4-0) had an answer as Logan Ullah and Harvey earned decisive victories at 190 and 215 pounds, respectively, to put Mead back within striking distance.
“We just told the guys that we really have to rally here and when it came down to it they needed me and Logan to score some points and that really changed the tone,” Harvey said.
As the dual snaked back to the lower weights, the teams traded blows.
Defending state champions Libby Roberts and Czar Quintanilla earned victories for the Titans , and reigning champ Kaysic Lundquist had a timely pin for the Panthers.
Mead finished off the final two matches with Ben Jaime’s 9-2 decision and James Mason’s pin in the nightcap to earn the win.
“Our upperclassmen are tough and they’ve been pretty successful over their careers,” McLean said. “The key is they expect to be successful and that’s why they found a way to win against a really tough team.”