The beat went on for the Kentwood High wrestling team Thursday night at Kentlake High.<\/p>\n
Behind pins from Scott Willis, Dalton Meyers, Austin Torres and Josh Boekelman along with a pivotal victory by decision from Matthew Scott, the Conquerors turned back the Falcons 40-29 in a South Puget Sound League North Division dual meet.<\/p>\n
Kentwood has dominated the annual meet against Kentlake, dubbed the “Cov-Town Throwdown.” The Conquerors have won the last 10 matchups against the Falcons. The last time Kentlake upended Kentwood on the mat was during the 2000-2001 season. That also was the last time Kentwood lost to another Kent School District team.<\/p>\n
Thursday night’s win, however, was far from a gimme for the Conquerors, said Kentwood coach Ken Sroka.<\/p>\n
“You never go into a meet thinking you’re going to lose, but (against Kentlake), I had my doubts,” admitted Sroka. “I just wanted us to get in there, work hard and we’d see what happened. There were a couple of big matches that we won, and it just steamrolled from there.<\/p>\n
“We beat a good team.”<\/p>\n
Kentwood won eight of the 14 matches, though Kentlake grabbed the lead \u2014 and some much-needed momentum \u2014 at 140 pounds, when state veteran Samir Faizoullin outlasted Kentwood’s Brennan Allen, 3-1. Faizoullin’s victory, which came moments after a major decision win by teammate Colton Marlowe, gave Kentlake a 17-16 advantage halfway through the meet. The Conquerors (4-1) proceeded to rip off four straight wins, a run that began at 145 pounds when Scott earned a 5-0 decision over Kentlake’s Gabe Carrilo.<\/p>\n
The win was pivotal, Sroka said.<\/p>\n
“Scott just wrestled really well,” the coach said. “He stepped up really big in that match. That was one of the matches that I didn’t know about. I really didn’t know what was going to happen.”<\/p>\n
Kentwood’s Torres (152) and Boekelman (160) followed with pins, giving the Conks a 31-17 lead.<\/p>\n
Despite the run of victories, the meet had yet to be decided. Kentlake’s Joel Firman (171) kept Kentwood’s celebration on ice with a pin of Quintin Trinh, cutting the deficit to 31-23.<\/p>\n
“He looked good,” Kentlake coach Jeremy Williams said of Firman. “We’re hoping we can get him into state and get him on the podium.”<\/p>\n
Kentwood’s Albert Tadevosyan (189) put the meet away moments later with a 20-7 major decision of Kentlake’s Cody McMahon.<\/p>\n
The meet of the night, however, belonged to Kentlake’s Sean Farr (130), who worked a 14-6 major decision of Kentwood’s Jose Hernandez. A match between state participants, Hernandez carried a 5-4 lead into the third period. Farr turned up the pace in the final period against Hernandez, who bumped up a weight class for the bout.<\/p>\n
“You have two state guys going at it, and it was close until the third period,” Williams said. “Sean picked it up a notch.”<\/p>\n
Kentwood was competing without three of its top wrestlers: Jonathan Ohashi (140\/145), Lucas Kelley (171) and Hayden Peterson (112\/119).<\/p>\n
“Those are three big shoes to fill,” Sroka said.<\/p>\n
Peterson, who banged up his knee at a recent tournament, was held out for precautionary reasons. Ohashi and Kelley were sick.<\/p>\n
Kentlake also was missing Jesse Keliiliki (189), who also was sick.<\/p>\n
Along with Firman, Austin Orcutt (103) and Nathan Meeks (285) also got pins for Kentlake.<\/p>\n
Meeks, who has blossomed into one of the SPSL North’s top heavyweights this winter, was especially impressive during his pin of Kentwood’s Daniel Park.<\/p>\n
“He’s a really athletic heavyweight,” Williams said. “He’s tough for opponents to work with because he has a low center of gravity and doesn’t allow opponents to do much. He’s got a lot of drive and wants to be successful.”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Kentwood’s Ruben Navejas, who took second at state a year ago and won the title the season before that, remained perfect. Navejas worked a 12-0 major decision of Kentlake’s Jeff Harjehausen. With the win, Navejas improved to 22-0 this season.<\/p>\n
Kentwood also received a victory from James Hatfield (215) while Kentlake’s Colton Marlowe (135) also chipped in a victory.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Kentwood 40, Kentlake 29<\/p>\n
103: Austin Orcutt (KL) p. Sophia Chi (KW) 5:38; 112: Scott Willis (KW) p. Anthony Hernandez (KL) :34; 119: Ruben Navejas (KW) md. Jeff Harjehausen (KL) 12-0; 125: Dalton Meyers (KW) p. Jake Lamb (KL) 5:59; 130: Sean Farr (KL) md. Jose Hernandez (KW) 14-6; 135: Colton Marlowe (KL) md. Korey Kaufman (KW) 13-4; 140: Samir Faizoullin (KL) dec. Brennan Allen (KW) 3-1; 145: Matthew Scott (KW) dec. Gabe Carrilo (KL) 5-0; 152: Austin Torres (KW) p. Tyler Carrico (KL) 3:58; 160: Josh Boekelman (KW) p. Matthew Nutting (KL) 2:47; 171: Joel Firman (KL) p. Quintin Trinh (KW) 3:07; 189: Albert Tadevosyan (KW) tf. Cody McMahon, Cody (KL) 20-7; 215: James Hatfield (KW) md. Tyler Deskins (KL) 13-3; 285: Nathan Meeks (KL) tf. Daniel Park (KW) 3:07.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The beat went on for the Kentwood High wrestling team Thursday night at Kentlake High.
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