Nine Cheney wrestlers advance to 2A regionals

Cheney High wrestling coach Brad Rasmussen accomplished two goals he had this season: Score more team points at the Great Northern League district championships and have more wrestlers qualify for regionals.

He and his team accomplished this at districts, Feb. 6, after Cheney finished third out of five teams with 188.5 points - exceeding last year's score of 177 - and had nine wrestlers advance to regionals - two more than last year.

"We had that goal written on our wall," Rasmussen said, referring to the 177 team score. "It was a team effort, the boys punched their tickets. Everyone played a part and they were excited when districts were over, as they should be."

Cameron Wiseman (145 pounds) took home his second district championship after pinning West Valley's Spencer Young in the semifinals, then defeating Brenton Goodwater, 11-9 in overtime in the finals.

"That was probably the most fun match of the day," Rasmussen said. "It was a great way for him to end the tournament."

Michael Ferguson (220) won his first district title after pinning East Valley's Jacob Halverson in the semifinals and the Knights' Court Kessinger in the championship match.

Garrett Pederson (285) won the district title in his weight division after he pinned West Valley's Spencer Splitter and then Clarkston's Marcus Patterson in the championship.

"Everybody put themselves in a position to be successful," Rasmussen said. "We expected Ferguson and Pederson to do well and they went out there and executed."

Devon Waterman (195) earned his third trip to regionals after he took second in his division. He pinned Clarkston's Stephan Sisemore in the quarterfinals and East Valley's Adam Kirk in the semifinals, then lost to the Bantams' Dylan Beeler, 9-1, in the finals. Rasmussen said he had heard Beeler, who wrestled at 220 for most of the season, would drop down to 195 for districts. "The match was closer than the score indicates, but Devon also made little mistakes and a wrestler like Beeler will make you pay for those," Rasmussen said. "Devon is going to use this loss as motivation leading up to regionals."

Francisco Martinez (152) qualified for his first regionals appearance after he finished second in his division. After he pinned Clarkston's Adam Draper and defeated Issac Draper, 12-10, West Valley's Drake Ferguson pinned him in the finals.

Zack Nguyen (132) took second in his division. After pinning East Valley's Wyatt Weidmer and teammate Colton Vandine, he lost to Clarkston's Tanner Benton via pin.

Three Cheney wrestlers took third in their brackets and will compete in a pigtail match at regionals: Taylor Nguyen (120) Boedy Taylor (170) and J.W. Meriott (182).

Billy Smith (106) and Saul Bautista (113) were fourth in their brackets and wrestle as alternates at regionals. Vandine, Brendon Miller (138), Alan Coumbs (160), Jackson Knutzen (220), went 1-2 in the tournament before they were eliminated in the consolation round.

Cheney will travel to West Valley for regionals, Feb. 13.

"The CWAC is tough from top to bottom," Rasmussen said. "There isn't an easy ride in regionals and our kids are going to have to step up and battle."

Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.