Mount Si handled two of its league rivals last week, trouncing Skyline

48 – 24 and Newport 50 – 15.

The Skyline match was close in the beginning, but some great effort

by several of the Wildcat wrestlers assured the team would come out

the victor; Newport, on the other hand, can be termed more a “total domination.”

First up for the Wildcats in the 103-pound class was Jordan Prior,

taking on Skyline’s Ray Su. Prior wasted no time taking Su to the mat and, with

48 seconds left in the first round, racked up a pin. In the 112-pound class

the Wildcats’ Andrew Ahmadi had his hands full with veteran Ricky

Chun. Ahmadi scored first with a takedown early in the first round, but Chun

came back and scored an escape and a takedown. The match

flip-flopped again as Ahmadi escaped and took Chun down again.

Starting from the neutral position in the second round, Ahmadi scored

a takedown, followed by a reversal by Chun. But, Ahmadi escaped and

then took Chun to the mat, scoring a two-point nearfall late in the round. In

the third both wrestlers looked tired, with Ahmadi making the only score on

an escape.

“He’s quick and I’m strong,” said Ahmadi after the match. The 12-5

win pushed Mount Si’s team score to 9-0.

Competing in the 119-pound class for Mount Si was Jason Moe, with

his Skyline opponent Justin Eballar. Moe came out strong in the first

round, scoring two takedowns, but midway through the second round he went

flat, appearing exhausted at times in the match. The match was tied after

three rounds, forcing sudden death overtime. In overtime, Eballar gained

the upper hand quickly, taking Moe to the mat and pinning him.

“He was a little heavy for the Lake Stevens tournament last weekend

and didn’t do so well in his first match there,” said coach Bruce

Caldwell. “But he came back and took third in

a tough tournament.

“I think his performance has to do with again having to lose some

weight prior to the match,” continued Caldwell.

The 125-pound class found veteran Ben Veyna out with an

injury, from which he should return later in the week. In his place was

relative newcomer Nick Martindale who lost by technical fall to Sean Kevoron,

16 – 0. The win gave Skyline a slight margin at 9 – 12.

Veteran Chad Mills took on Skyline’s Kevin Burton in the

130-pound class and had a tougher time than most anticipated. Mills scored

a takedown in the first round to take an early lead. He then notched a

reversal in the second for a score of 4-0 going into the third.

With the Wildcat starting from the down position, Burton went to

work on his scoring efforts. Midway through the third, he

maneuvered Mills to his shoulders, scoring a three-point nearfall. But that would be

all for the points, with Mills tacking on one more due to an illegal hold

by Burton. The close 5-3 win by Mills tied the two schools at 12 each.

From then on in the meet – with the exception of three matches – it

was all Mount Si. In the 135-pound class, Blake Moore pinned Skyline’s

Jeff Klakring with 1:43 left in the second round. Hiram Tame followed suit

for the Wildcats, pinning the Spartans’ Jamie Beirell with 1:17 left in the

first round.

Payton Thompson put on a heck of a fight in the 145-pound class

but lost a decision, 12-10. Wildcat Ryan Smith found himself in an

unusual position and was pinned with 56 seconds left in the first round by

Skyline’s Erik Reed.

The `Cats answered, though, in the 160-pound class, as Kasey

Robinson pulled a trick out of his hat, pinning the Spartans’ Ryan Beets.

Robinson was nearly pinned by Beets midway through the first round, with his

opponent scoring a takedown and three-point nearfall. But Robinson

showed real maturity, getting the reverse, then in a bear-hug maneuver

slamming Beets on his back to a quick pin with 13 seconds left in the first round.

” He really turned that one around” said Coach Caldwell,

obviously pleased with the outcome. “He had

his arm over my mouth and the ref told him to keep his arm away from

my mouth, which made him mad,” said Robinson after the match. The

pin pushed Mount Si to a 30-21 lead.

Next up was Jed McDaniels who, although young, has grown

tremendously in his skill level. McDaniels wasted no time taking the

Spartans’ Jake Goetts to the mat then finally tacking his shoulders for the pin

with eight seconds left in the first round.

Next up was Brad “Bruiser” Davis who didn’t disappoint his fans.

He immediately took Skyline’s Nick Noreen to the mat for the

takedown, then rolled him over to notch a pin with 1:21 left in the first round.

Dylan Seubert took to the mat for Mount Si in the 215-pound

class against the Spartans’ Mike Johnson. Johnson scored first getting

a takedown but Seubert quickly reversed. Johnson scored again with

an escape and another point on an illegal slap by Seubert. But the

sophomore had put up with enough and manhandled Johnson to the mat for the

pin with two seconds left in the first round.

“I was mad because his coach made us wait to weigh in and I

was hungry and couldn’t eat,” said an honest Davis. “So I took it out on him,

I was pretty hungry,” he added. The pin gave Mount Si a commanding

48-21 lead.

Last up for the night was the 275-pound class, which pitted Mount

Si’s Sean Sexton against a seasoned Ted Pelligrini. Sexton scored first with

an early takedown then worked his opponent to a three-point nearfall.

But Pelligrini wasn’t giving up easy, reversing Sexton and scoring his

own three-point nearfall.

In the second round Sexton scored a four-point nearfall due to injury

time by Pelligrini. But other than a reversal midway through the third

round, Sexton couldn’t gain the advantage again. Pelligrini, on the other

hand, scored an escape, two takedowns and two three-point nearfalls to win,

16-11.

With the last match in the books, Mount Si doubled up on Skyline,

48-24.

“It was kind of going back and forth there for awhile; then we got

to 135 had a great match,” said Coach Caldwell. “At 140 we had a

great match, then we got to 145 and knew it was going to be tough.

Sessions is a pretty tough kid and Payton gave up early five points.

But had he been able to prevent it, maybe just getting a takedown, it would

have been different,” Caldwell added.

“The big surprise was at 152. Ryan got thrown and I’ve never seen

Ryan get thrown before. He got caught and it’s going to happen once in

awhile. But I’ll tell you, this match next time could be totally different.

“Jed had an excellent match, that’s a good win for him. He’s putting

his time in and it paid off for him in that match,” Caldwell concluded. “189

and 215 kind of went as planned. We knew the heavy match would be tough.”

Next up for the Wildcats was Newport, with the squad traveling

to Bellevue for the match. In the 103-pound match, Prior won by major

decision over Josh Luttman of Newport, 18-8, while Mount Si’s Ahmadi

won by technical fall over Nick Fast. Kyle Cunningham pulled through

for Mount Si with a 7-5 decision over the Knights’ James Akiyama in the

119-pound class.

The Wildcats’ Moe won a 10-1 major decision over Newport’s

Warren Sole, followed by pins from Mills at 130-pounds and Moore at

135-pounds.

Tame found himself in a rare situation, on the short end of a 5-9

score against Newport’s Adam Andrie in the 140-pound class, but Mount

Si bounced back as Thompson won a major decision over Jeremy

Benezera, 10-1. Mount Si’s Smith had his second tough match of the week,

losing a decision to Newport’s Steve Grayson, 10-14.

After the comeback pin in his Skyline match, the Wildcats’

Robinson had a little tougher time in his next battle. He lost by decision to

Casey Kilmer, 6-7.

Newport veteran Kaveh Khademi gave Mount Si’s McDaniels a little

lesson on pins as McDaniels found himself face up on the mat at the