It was Senior Night for the Edmonds-Woodway Warrior Wrestlers and the senior class came through for the team, helping to take down the undefeated Eagles from Arlington 37-24. The undefeated Wesco South champions had 11 seniors in their lineup and six came away with victories.
Friday night was the 30th anniversary of the iconic wrestling movie “Vision Quest,” and the dual meet between two highly rank schools looked a little like the movie’s final scene. The stands in the EW Wrestling Pit were packed with noisy fans from both schools and they got what the came to see, a great high school wrestling match.
The action started right off the bat in a meet where both coaches came prepared to play a chess match of sorts by juggling grapplers around in the line-up, looking for a competitive advantage. In the first match of the night, senior Spencer Schultz, who normally competes at 195, bumped up to wrestle at 220. Schultz, ranked 4th in state, trailed 6-0 early before clawing his way back in the second and third period to win 10-8.
Ebrima Fatty was another senior who needed to scrap from behind to defeat an unranked opponent. At 120, Fatty fell behind Arlington’s Will Rush in the first period 4-1 and trailed 6-5 going into the final two minutes of the match. Fatty scored in the third to secure a 7-6 decision.
Two E-W seniors scored big victories in matches that feature returning state placers from both schools. At 132, Sidat Kanyi moved up from 126 to square off against Gavin Rork. Both grapplers placed 4th in state in 2015 in their respective weights and are ranked this year. It was a high-scoring match, with both wrestlers demonstrating skill and speed. At the end, Kanyi came away with 12-7 victory.
It was the 182-pound match that sealed the victory for the Warriors. Arlington had closed E-W’s lead to 28-24 with two weights left to wrestle. The Warriors need a pin to put the score out of reach. E-W Senior Mason McDaniel moved up from 170 to take on Ruben Crew from Arlington. McDaniel is ranked first in state in all classes of schools and finished second at Mat Classic in 2015. Crew is ranked second in state this year and finish second in the 2015 Mat Classic.
The match started with a flurry of action before McDaniel shot a low-ankle takedown, and with lightning speed caught Crew in a cradle pinning combination. With one second left on the clock in the first period, the referee slapped, bringing the Warrior fans and team to their feet.
With the victory, the Warriors finish the dual meet season as undisputed champions of the Wesco.
E-W will host the Wesco 3A South District Tournament this Friday and Saturday.
106—Mitchell Martinez (E-W) pinned Kadin Guzman 1:10; 113—Danny Herrera (A) pinned Dane Johnson 2:21; 120—Ebrima Fatty (E-W) dec. Will Rush 7-6; 126—Salihou Fatty (E-W) dec. Brantly Stupey 5-0; 132—Sidat Kanyi (E-W) dec. Gavin Rork 12-7; 138—Jeremy Nygard (A) pinned Jonah Cortezzo 2:55; 145—Riley Seward (E-W) maj. dec. Riley Oakes 9-1; 152—Cooper McAuslan (A) won by injury default over Trevor Hendricks; 160—Anthony Lindamood (E-W) pinned Wyatt Hawthorne :55; 170—Azariah Crew (A) maj. dec. Abdoulie Jatta 14-3; 182—Mason McDaniel (E-W) pinned Ruben Crew 1:59; 195—Konstantin Stratiev (E-W) dec. Andrew Roundy 8-6; 220—Spencer Schultz (E-W) dec. Colton Ferro 10-8; 285—Adalberto Ramos (A) dec. Michael Swires 3-1.
– By Mike Cooper
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