The crowd that packed the Enumclaw High gymnasium Jan. 26 got what it came to see – some of the best wrestling in Washington state as Enumclaw put together back-to-back pins in the final matches for a 35-25 come-from-behind victory over Orting.
“It made for a great match and it played out that way,” EHS coach Lee Reichert said. “It was a great night of wrestling for both programs.”
The nonleague match wasn’t on the schedule until a couple of weeks ago.
Enumclaw, last year’s No. 2 Class 2A team and currently ranked in the same position, and Orting, defending state 1A champion and top ranked in its classification, filled a hole in their schedules with the contest.
After two matches, the teams were tied at 5. Dillan Stiles put the Cardinals up by three with an 11-5 decision over Jayden Fend at 119 pounds and Orting didn’t look back.
The Hornets’ defending state champion Hunter File kept it close with state runner-up Antonio Brown. File scored a late-match escape and reversal to top Brown, a feat he’d not done before, 5-4.
After that, Orting put together a string of unanswered points to build a 22-8 lead.
EHS tightened the margin to five points with state runner-up Josh Musick’s overtime win over defending 145-pound champion Nikko Veltri and a pin at 160 pounds by Kario Wallin.
“That was two outstanding wrestlers going head-to-head,” Reichert said of the Musick-Veltri match up. “For the fans, for the kids, for the parents, for anyone in the building that night they got to enjoy a great match.”
Orting earned a decision at 171 pounds, but that would be the last.
Enumclaw’s T.J. Cormier accepted a forfeit at 189 and then teammates Colton Malek and Colton Sambrano put together back-to-back pins for the victory. Malek scored his fall in the opening 1 minute, 7 seconds. Sambrano earned his in 45 seconds.
The Hornets grabbed the South Puget Sound League 3A title Jan. 20 with a win over Decatur.
The team will now take its top two wrestlers to the subregional tournament Friday and Saturday at Auburn Mountainview. Friday’s matches begin at 4:30 p.m. and continue Saturday morning. The top four wrestlers in each weight class advance to the regional tournament Feb. 12 at Bonney Lake.
