EHS WRESTLING: Hornets steam past White River for team crown

Add another subregional title to the Enumclaw High wrestling team’s credit.

Add another subregional title to the Enumclaw High wrestling team’s credit.

With five champions – Andrew Fox, Josh Musick, Kario Wallin, Colton Malek and D.J. Qualls – and four runners-up, the No. 2-ranked Hornets cruised to their sixth-straight South Puget Sound League 3A subregional title Saturday night at Auburn Mountainview High with 388.5 points.

White River followed with 350.5 points. The host Lions trailed with 214.5 points for third with Bonney Lake fourth at 200.5.

“Things went extremely well for us,” coach Lee Reichert said. “We went in hoping to win it, that was our goal. It’s a step in the right direction, now it’s quality, not quantity.”

“The attrition rate (at the regional tournament) is usually about half,” Reichert said. “We’re hoping for more than half. If we could take 12 into the state tournament that would be outstanding.”

The Hornets move 14 on to Saturday’s regional tournament at Mount Rainier High in Des Moines, where the top four earn a spot at Mat Classic, the state tournament, Feb. 19 and 20 at the Tacoma Dome.

Fox, a senior, earned his title over fellow teammate and senior Kyle Young. Fox earned his way into the final with a pair of pins. Young scored a 12-9 decision and a 1-minute, 20-second pin for his shot at the crown. During the final, the Hornet duo battled to a 7-3 decision.

“We consider them both champions,” Reichert said of the Hornet-Hornet battle.

Musick, a junior who scored a 19-second and 5:27 pin, earned his 152-pound title with a 6-2 decision over Tyler King of Auburn Mountainview.

Wallin, a junior, earned his way into the finals with three-straight falls, before posting an 8-2 decision over White River’s Austin Bethel for the 160-pound title.

EHS sophomore Malek pinned his first opponent and then scored a 5-4 decision before cruising past Peninsula’s Michael Sly 10-5 for the 171-pound championship.

“He came in seeded No. 3 and became the champion,” Reichert said. “He wrestled such a great match.”

Qualls also posted two falls enroute to the title round, where the 189-pound senior scored a 13-4 decision over Zach Huyber of Auburn Mountainview.

Hunter File was one of the Hornets’ runners-up with a second-place finish at 125 pounds. After winning two straight matches by fall, File, a junir, dropped a 5-2 decision to Drew Dacey of Auburn Mountainview in the final. Teammate Riley Klein finished third in the same weight class to advance.

Lucas Somera finished second at 130 pounds. The EHS freshman scored two pins to earn his spot against T.J. Pieretti of Auburn Mountainview in the final. Pieretti won 12-0.

Knapp, a senior, earned his shot at the title with a pin and an injury default. He faced White River’s Chase Myers for the 215-pound title, which Myers won by fall.

Sophomore Cole Snider will advance behind a third-place finish at 119 pounds.

Freshman David Kingman, 103 pounds, and seniors Tanner Southland, 140, and Chance Mitchell, 145, move on for EHS with fourth-place finishes.

Senior Jeff Wiltse earned a fifth-place finish at heavyweight and will serve as an alternate, as will junior Marcus Madden, who finished fifth at 160 and senior A.J. Moleri who was fifth at 145.

Freshman Bradley Young finished sixth at 103 and sophomore Colton Sambrano finished sixth at 171.

In addition, Adam Eilers was named SPSL 3A Assistant Coach of the Year. Eilers has been with the Hornet program for five years.