Wildcats continue undefeated run

The Mount Si wrestling team returned to the mat for league action and walked away with a 39-21 win over the Interlake Saints.

The Mount Si wrestling team returned to the mat for league action and walked away with a 39-21 win over the Interlake Saints. The Saints, typically a pushover in the wrestling world, boasts a strong team this season and in the middle-weight rounds it looked as though the Wildcats may have been in for some trouble. In the end, strong performances by Mac Donnell at 189 pounds and Dex Moeutului at 215 pounds put Mount Si ahead.

The night started with Ben Larson taking on Preston Mui of Interlake. Larson dominated the match, racking up 15 points before the match was called for technical fall in the third round. “I wish I had 30 or 40 guys with hearts like his,” said coach Jeff Newcomer. “He never gives up.”

At 112 pounds, Kyle Heath had an easy win as Interlake forfeited the veteran wrestler. The forfeit gave Mount Si an 11-0 lead heading into the 119-pound class. There, the Wildcats continued their dominance as Ryan Makala won by technical fall over the Saints’ Chris Lien. Makala racked up seven first-round points, then went on to pull out a third-round nearfall for the win.

Joe Taklo had one of his toughest matches in recent memory against Interlake’s Paul Chang at 125 pounds. Taklo scored first with a takedown in the first round, but didn’t score again until the third round on a reversal. “I was having a little trouble keeping hip pressure on him when he was building up his base,” said Taklo. “He was getting tired later in the rounds and with our conditioning, I was able to do more,” he added.

The 4-0 win gave Mount Si a 19-0 lead going into the 130-pound class.

At 130 pounds, Joseph Guiard took on the Saints’ Christian Schultz. Guiard wrestled a strong match but in the end, Schultz notched a 4-0 win to get Interlake on the scoreboard.

The Wildcats’ Jacob Lund faced a similar fate at 135 pounds as he fell by decision to the Saints’ Jason Marks 8-2. Vince Vaszuez pulled the Wildcats back into the fray with a 6-3 decision over Interlake’s Ricky Schmidt. Schmidt, a veteran on the squad, appeared confident as he went to the mat and the first round seemed to indicate his confidence would get him the win. Vasquez waited for his opportunity and found it with a takedown and three-point nearfall in the second round. In the third, he handled Schmidt to the end to take a 6-3 win.

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