Wyatt Josie’s come-from-behind pin as time ran out in the second round of Wednesday night’s 171-pound battle with White River’s Noah Geehan was the momentum-turner Enumclaw needed to eventually score a 44-27 win in the nonleague contest between Plateau rivals.
The Hornet-Hornet battle proved to be just that and fans from both sides of the river could be proud.
“It was a great match for fans and for wrestling,” EHS coach Lee Reichert said.
“That was fun,” his White River counterpart Joe Klein said. “That’s what wrestling is about. Our guys came ready to wrestle tonight. It was awesome. I’m proud of the way our kids wrestled. That was a fun match.”
It was a night full of surprises, elation and heartbreak.
The big surprise came in the match’s opening round, 135 pounds, as White River’s Brandon Short upset defending state champion Hunter File with a second-round pin.
“After the big surprise at 35 we had to ask ourselves ‘where are we going to make up those points?'” said Reichert, who admitted he considered toying with his lineup. Those moments, he noted, define teams and his Hornets didn’t pull up stakes.
“Tonight the kids battled back tough,” Reichert said.
It didn’t get easier for either team.
Enumclaw won the next five matches, starting with Lucas Somera topping Austin Shirey 5-2 at 140. Marcus Nichols then pinned Tony Tyler at 145 to lift the Hornets to a 9-6 lead.
Josh Musick pinned Gavin Severson in 1-minute, 57-seconds at 152 and at 160, Karo Wallin dropped Caden Pugmire 5-2.
Enumclaw got its big lift at 171 when Josie, trailing 5-2, pinned Geehan.
Colten Malek earned a 9-1 major decision over Chris Skinner at 189, pushing Enumclaw to a 28-6 lead, but White River would not be denied.
“We weren’t intimidated,” Klein said. “We came out and wrestled well. We didn’t back down. We gave our best effort. That’s something we can build on.”
White River’s Jeff Kisner went nip-and-tuck with T.J. Cormier before edging him 8-7 at the wire at 215. Then Dave Meagher pinned Colton Sambrano in 1:17 at heavyweight to pull White River closer, 28-15.
White River’s rally wasn’t done.
In a match separated by just a point, Cody Schwab scored a late-match pin over Garrett Jarosz at 103 to pull white River to within seven points.
Enumclaw answered with Tyke Reid’s major decision over Trevor Kurtz at 112.
The Buckley Hornets would not be denied. Richard Geddes responded by pinning Jared Fend at 119 for a 32-27 match.
A pin would have given White River the lead, but the final two matches went to Enumclaw, both by fall, with Cole Snider slamming the door on Tyler Worthen in the opening 1:37 seconds of the 125-pound match and Travis Reano sticking Caleb Maurseth in 5:01 at 130 for the final.
