By John Leggett
The Courier-Herald
Bonney Lake High wrestlers represented themselves well Saturday at Auburn Mountainview, finishing fourth in the South Puget Sound League 3A subdistrict wrestling tournament.
Bonney Lake boasted champions in the 103-, 140-, 145- and 285-pound weight classes, winding up with 200.5 points which was good enough to rate fourth overall in team points.
“This was the most team points we’ve scored in the half dozen tournaments we’ve been involved with his season,” Bonney Lake coach Anthony Clarke said. “So, it would appear we are headed in the right direction at precisely the most opportune stage of the campaign. We have six wrestlers moving on to regionals for sure and two more guys who will be acting as alternates.”
The excitement began for the black and teal when sophomore Andrew Cunningham emerged as the champion at 103 pounds.
Cunningham, who had been wrestling at 112 pounds during the regular season, elected to drop down a weight and the transition paid off in spades.
The cat-quick Cunningham enjoyed a bye in round one of the preliminaries. He then recorded a first-round fall over White River’s Carl Klein in the quarterfinals and beat out Peninsula’s crest bearer with a second round pin in the semifinals.
Cunningham toiled arduously to claim the 103-pound belt over Auburn Mountainview’s Tyke Reid as he was out in front of Reid in points 8-1 in the championship bout, before finally pinning the exhausted Lion.
Bonney Lake dominated in the light middle weights, as it had representatives appearing on the top step of the podium at 140 and 145 pounds. Nick Bendon left mayhem in his wake at 140 pounds, as he enjoyed a bye in the first round of the prelims, then crushed his foe in the quarterfinals, annihilating him with a 16-0 technical fall.
Bendon then went on pin White River’s Tony Tyler with three seconds remaining in their semifinal encounter.
Bendon won the 140-pound gold by outlasting his opponent in the championship tilt with a labor intensive 10-2 decision.
Bonney Lake’s Josh Peart was a tornado at 145 pounds as he drew a first round bye, then flat-backed his foe in the quarter finals, winning there with a 47-second pin and moving on to confront White River’s Caden Pugmire in the semis.
Once there Peart thwarted Pugmire with a fall at 48 seconds into the third round. In the war for the champion’s blue ribbon, Peart prevailed with a hard-earned 10-6 decision after spotting his challenger a 6-0 advantage.
Panther big man Jared Dorsey took home champion’s accolades at heavyweight.
After languishing in the bleachers with the bye Friday afternoon, cheering on his teammates, Dorsey recorded a pair of second round pins in the quarter and semi-final rounds, before finally edging out White River’s David Meagher with a 4-2 decision to assume the position on the podium’s pinnacle.
Robbie Slick finished fourth at 112 pounds as he lost to his feisty nemesis, Enumclaw’s Cole Snider, in the consolation finals, when Snider notched a fall at 1:35.
Freshman Matt Yuste performed admirably in the competitive 125-pound weight class and will be moving on to next weekend’s regional tournament at Mount Rainier High School as an alternate.
One weight later, at 130 pounds, Panther grappler Gordi St. Peter also finished in the top half dozen competitors. St. Peter moved on to the semis in the consolation bracket, but that was as far as he got, dropping a tight 1-0 decision to Lakes’ R.J. Allen to earn sixth.
There was an interesting consolation clash between two local wrestlers at 135 pounds for the fifth and sixth spots in that weight classification, when Sumner freshman Zach Wooding was paired against Bonney Lake’s Phil Hathaway. Hathaway, the more seasoned wrestler, emerged victorious with a 8-2 decision and will also qualify as an alternate at regionals.
Panther sophomore Jake Lueders proved himself to be a worthy adversary, finishing fourth in his 152-pound weight class.
At 171 pounds Panther Sean Parker managed a sixth-place finish after losing by a 12-4 decision to White River’s Jeff Kisner.
