Published: Thursday, December 9, 2010
Top-ranked Lake Stevens beats Everett in showcase match
Vikings show why they are early favorite to win 4A state title
-
Sarah Weiser / The Herald
Mick Majors of Lake Stevens (top) has the advantage over Everett's Zane Crook during their 135-pound match Thursday evening at Lake Stevens High School. Majors beat Crook 4-0 and the Vikings defeated the Seagulls 59-18 in the non-league meet.
LAKE STEVENS — The Lake Stevens wrestling team actually did trail in its match against Everett Thursday. But the deficit was so brief, anyone who blinked at the wrong time may have missed it.
After dropping its first match against the Seagulls, the Vikings won their next 10 — including six by pin and another by technical fall — in defeating Everett 53-18 in nonconference dual meet at a packed Lake Stevens High School gym.
Lake Stevens, ranked No. 1 in the Class 4A state rankings, also defeated Class 2A power Sedro-Woolley 46-33. Arlington also wrestled at the meet.
But it was the match against Everett — ranked No. 9 in the state at Class 3A — that was the highlight of the evening, and Lake Stevens showed why it is an early favorite to win yet another state title. After Everett's Justine Palabrica opened the match with a pin at 103 pounds, the Vikings (6-0) didn't even trail in a match again until the 215-pound bout.
“This kind of thing is good for wrestling in our area,” Lake Stevens coach Brent Barnes said. “We get to showcase some pretty good teams in our gym in front of a good crowd and these double duals are a good way to get in a couple matches in one setting and start to get an idea of what you've got.”
What Lake Stevens clearly has is a powerhouse despite having just a few seniors in its rotation. It didn't matter much, though, against Everett (2-2), which beat Arlington 37-32 in its first match of the night.
Following a forfeit at 112 pounds, sophomore Eric Soler started the pin-fest off with a stoppage of Dominic Simonelli at 1 minute, 24 seconds. At 125 pounds, senior Ryan Rodorigo dismantled Everett sophomore Jessie Lopez 19-4, leading 8-0 after one and finishing things in the second round for a 17-6 Vikings lead.
Freshman Casey Walkley pinned fellow freshman Bailey Shaver in 49 seconds at 130 pounds and Mick Majors followed with a solid 4-0 victory over Zane Crook to make it 26-6 Vikings. Kinsey Johnson got a first-round pin at 140 pounds and sophomore Austin Gershmel got a tough 4-0 win over senior Joel Palabrica at 145. Then came pins from senior Jack Reeves (39 seconds), senior Andrew King (3:32) and junior Ryan Olliges (1:16) that essentially put the match away, if it wasn't already.
“The only way you get better is by wrestling tough teams,” said Reeves, who won his first match of the night against Sedro-Woolley in 54 seconds. “If you're winning all the time, you're not learning anything. So it's good to have matches where you're challenged.”
“What makes us good is how hard we work,” added Olliges, who won his first match of the night with a 31-second pin. “We work really hard in practice and if you work that hard, when you get out on the mat for a match, things should go well.”
Everett finally got some points with a forfeit win at 189 pounds followed by a pin by Brayden Jacobson at 215 pounds. But Lake Stevens heavyweight Cody Schlosser ended the night with a pin with just eight seconds to go, causing the crowd and his teammates to erupt.
“I was happy with what I saw from some of the guys,” Barnes said. “I liked Schlosser's win even though the match was over by then. Olliges had a great day and Reeves and King really stepped up and did what I expect them to do. It was a good night for us but it's still early.”
Lake Stevens next turns its attention to the Tri-State Meet next weekend in Idaho, followed by a trip to Roseberg, Ore. just before Christmas to meet the No. 10-ranked team in the country.
“People say we're the No. 1 team in the state and it's nice for people to think that,” Reeves said. “But we know that that doesn't really matter. We need to come out every match and show it because what people think doesn't matter, it's what we do that matters.”
Lake Stevens 59, Everett 18
103: Justine Palabrica (E) pinned Zachary Cunningham 2:42; 112: Jesse Peterson (L) won by forfeit; 119: Eric Soler (L) pinned Dominic Simonelli 1:24; 125: Ryan Rodorigo (L) tech fall Jessie Lopez 19-4; 130: Casey Walkley (L) pinned Bailey Shaver :49; 135: Mick Majors (L) def. Zane Crook 4-0; 140: Kinsey Johnson (L) pinned Garrett Wise 1:43; 145: Austin Gershmel (L) def. Joel Palabrica 4-0; 152: Jack Reeves (L) pinned Tyler Dutton :39; 160: Andrew King (L) pinned Connor Boyce 3:32; 171: Ryan Olliges (L) pinned Zach Skorka 1:16; 189: Jordan Brock (E) by forfeit; 215: Brayden Jacobson (E) pinned Anthony Thees 1:42; 285: Cody Schlosser (L) pinned Levi Carroll 5:52. Records: Lake Stevens 6-0, Everett 2-2.
After dropping its first match against the Seagulls, the Vikings won their next 10 — including six by pin and another by technical fall — in defeating Everett 53-18 in nonconference dual meet at a packed Lake Stevens High School gym.
Lake Stevens, ranked No. 1 in the Class 4A state rankings, also defeated Class 2A power Sedro-Woolley 46-33. Arlington also wrestled at the meet.
But it was the match against Everett — ranked No. 9 in the state at Class 3A — that was the highlight of the evening, and Lake Stevens showed why it is an early favorite to win yet another state title. After Everett's Justine Palabrica opened the match with a pin at 103 pounds, the Vikings (6-0) didn't even trail in a match again until the 215-pound bout.
“This kind of thing is good for wrestling in our area,” Lake Stevens coach Brent Barnes said. “We get to showcase some pretty good teams in our gym in front of a good crowd and these double duals are a good way to get in a couple matches in one setting and start to get an idea of what you've got.”
What Lake Stevens clearly has is a powerhouse despite having just a few seniors in its rotation. It didn't matter much, though, against Everett (2-2), which beat Arlington 37-32 in its first match of the night.
Following a forfeit at 112 pounds, sophomore Eric Soler started the pin-fest off with a stoppage of Dominic Simonelli at 1 minute, 24 seconds. At 125 pounds, senior Ryan Rodorigo dismantled Everett sophomore Jessie Lopez 19-4, leading 8-0 after one and finishing things in the second round for a 17-6 Vikings lead.
Freshman Casey Walkley pinned fellow freshman Bailey Shaver in 49 seconds at 130 pounds and Mick Majors followed with a solid 4-0 victory over Zane Crook to make it 26-6 Vikings. Kinsey Johnson got a first-round pin at 140 pounds and sophomore Austin Gershmel got a tough 4-0 win over senior Joel Palabrica at 145. Then came pins from senior Jack Reeves (39 seconds), senior Andrew King (3:32) and junior Ryan Olliges (1:16) that essentially put the match away, if it wasn't already.
“The only way you get better is by wrestling tough teams,” said Reeves, who won his first match of the night against Sedro-Woolley in 54 seconds. “If you're winning all the time, you're not learning anything. So it's good to have matches where you're challenged.”
“What makes us good is how hard we work,” added Olliges, who won his first match of the night with a 31-second pin. “We work really hard in practice and if you work that hard, when you get out on the mat for a match, things should go well.”
Everett finally got some points with a forfeit win at 189 pounds followed by a pin by Brayden Jacobson at 215 pounds. But Lake Stevens heavyweight Cody Schlosser ended the night with a pin with just eight seconds to go, causing the crowd and his teammates to erupt.
“I was happy with what I saw from some of the guys,” Barnes said. “I liked Schlosser's win even though the match was over by then. Olliges had a great day and Reeves and King really stepped up and did what I expect them to do. It was a good night for us but it's still early.”
Lake Stevens next turns its attention to the Tri-State Meet next weekend in Idaho, followed by a trip to Roseberg, Ore. just before Christmas to meet the No. 10-ranked team in the country.
“People say we're the No. 1 team in the state and it's nice for people to think that,” Reeves said. “But we know that that doesn't really matter. We need to come out every match and show it because what people think doesn't matter, it's what we do that matters.”
Lake Stevens 59, Everett 18
103: Justine Palabrica (E) pinned Zachary Cunningham 2:42; 112: Jesse Peterson (L) won by forfeit; 119: Eric Soler (L) pinned Dominic Simonelli 1:24; 125: Ryan Rodorigo (L) tech fall Jessie Lopez 19-4; 130: Casey Walkley (L) pinned Bailey Shaver :49; 135: Mick Majors (L) def. Zane Crook 4-0; 140: Kinsey Johnson (L) pinned Garrett Wise 1:43; 145: Austin Gershmel (L) def. Joel Palabrica 4-0; 152: Jack Reeves (L) pinned Tyler Dutton :39; 160: Andrew King (L) pinned Connor Boyce 3:32; 171: Ryan Olliges (L) pinned Zach Skorka 1:16; 189: Jordan Brock (E) by forfeit; 215: Brayden Jacobson (E) pinned Anthony Thees 1:42; 285: Cody Schlosser (L) pinned Levi Carroll 5:52. Records: Lake Stevens 6-0, Everett 2-2.
Comments
(