The Cheney High wrestling team began Great Northern League competition with a 45-31 win against Pullman, Dec. 20. Two days later they had several wrestlers place in the Tri-County Tournament at Central Valley.
Head coach Brad Rasmussen said the Pullman dual went “as we expected.” He noted standout performances from Andrew Rushing, who he said scored a “big pin for us,” as well as Josh Corean and Saul Bautista.
“Pullman has been making strides in their program and we knew we were going to be in a battle,” Rasmussen said. “Our guys fought hard. We had a great team effort.”
At the Tri-County Tournament, Cheney finished 22nd out of 24 teams with 31 points.
Rushing, who dropped to 170, took seventh in his division after he went 3-2 and defeated Hanford’s Alec Cruz, 6-4.
Teagan Simon (126) went 3-1 to win the Consolation A bracket, including a 28-second pin of Shadle Park’s Jonah Byre.
“One of the tough things about the tournament is if you lose in the first round, you have less of a chance to place,” Rasmussen said. “Rushing did a great job of battling back. Teagan showed up and surprised us.”
Jeremy Blom (113) was the consolation B champion after he went 2-1 in his bracket and pinned Central Valley’s Brock McNeilly.
Brenden Miller (152) was 3-1 before he was eliminated in Consolidation B finals. Michael Bozeman (126) and Kyle Perrine (182) were 2-2 in the tournament, while Shane Moore (145), Calvin Edwards and Colton Huotari (both at 152) and Mason Allen (170) went 1-2.
“It’s clear from that tournament there are things we need to work on, and there are things we’re getting better at,” Rasmussen said.
Cheney wraps up the 2016 portion of their schedule tomorrow (Dec. 30) at the Freeman Invite. In the 2015 tournament, Nguyen won the 132 division while Bautista took fifth in 120 and Francisco Martinez captured the 152 consolation bracket.
“The Freeman tournament is a good way to prepare for the postseason,” Rasmussen said. “We’re going to send as many kids, varsity and JV, as possible and have them get a lot of mat time.”
Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.
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