Cheney’s boys wrestling team is slowly readying itself for the league championship, collecting a 54-21 win over Pullman Jan. 9 and ranking fifth as a team Jan. 12 at Ellensburg’s Ray Westberg Invitational.
Head coach Jason Connor said the team did well against the Greyhounds despite both teams struggling with injuries that shook up their lineups.
Weighing in at 145 pounds, Cheney’s Dylan Straley won by 9-1 major decision over Pullman’s Josiah Smith, while Blackhawk grappler Blake Seubert won by a 5-4 decision over the Greyhound’s Michael LaVielle.
“Jackson Showalter had a really good match in Pullman; he was 18-0 on a technical fall and was just a hammer on top,” Connor said in an email.
Showalter (16-5) also placed first in the 152 weight class in Ellensburg, scoring 26 team points.
Cheney went up against 14 other teams in at the Ray Westberg Invitational, snagging the fifth-place spot with 170-pound Anthony Aguilera (15-5) placing second and scoring 21 team points and Blackhawk James Whiteley (15-7) placing fourth in the 182 weight class, scoring 18 team points.
But the team didn’t take time to bask in their victories, instead focusing fiercely on Wednesday’s Jan. 16 duel with West Valley in which the teams will go head to head for the league championship.
“That’s going to be a really big duel for us — we’re both on a 30-plus year losing streak and one of us will be league champions,” Connor said. “One of those losing streaks will be broken.”
The last time West Valley held that title was 1982, while Cheney last took the championship in 1989.
Shannen Talbot can be reached at shannen@cheneyfreepress.com.
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