Wrestlers ready for run at 2009 district title
ANDREW CHRISTIANSEN
Reporter
Goldendale wrestlers’ hit the mats in their first full meet action, last Thursday. In spite of being stocked with freshmen, the Wolves are overloaded on the top end of the weight divisions. Fortunately the sport rewards individual as well as team performance, giving Goldendale the opportunity to do well, even with gaps in their line-up.
Thursday’s match was to be a two-way meet against Wahluke and Royal, but due to the football playoffs, Sunnyside High School’s junior varsity filled in for Royal.
Johnathan Monroe set the right tone with the opening match at 189 against Enrique Barajas, of Wahluke. Barajas dominated the first round, as Monroe seemed to be biding his time. Barajas gave the lead to Monroe in the second round after committing two fouls for illegal holds. Half way through the second round, Monroe ratcheted up the pace and took Barajas down and pinned him with 20 seconds left in the round.
Monroe made it two pins on the day, dispatching Alex Isiordia, of Sunnyside, with 12 seconds left in the second round of his second match.
Kurt Wilkens, new to the team this year, also wrestled at 189, taking on
Francisco Mendoza, of Wahluke. Wilkens was in on a leg, one-minute into the first round, but the takedown was in doubt, as Mendoza had Wilkens’ head. Wilkens used leg strength to break free and drove Mendoza to the mat and his back. The pin came at 1:25 of round one.
Getting the most work was Torey Spaulding, wrestling at 152 pounds. Spaulding had a rough opening match against Hermis Rivera, of Sunnyside. Spaulding fought off a take down and managed to get Rivera on his back in the first round for a 4-0 lead.
Rivera earned a point for an escape near the end of the round. With Spaulding in the down position in round three, still leading 4-1, Rivera released Spaulding for a chance for more points. Rivera got one takedown late in the match, and could do no more as the match ended 5-3 in favor of Spaulding.
The second match, versus Sunnyside’s Andy Cantu, was a come-from-behind win for Spaulding, who trailed 4-1 and was in the down position at the start of the second round. An escape, a takedown, and back points put Spaulding up 7-5.
Cantu reversed for the tie, but Spaulding escaped for what would be the winning point. Spaulding rode Cantu out for the duration of round three and had an 8-7 win.
Braydon Ross showed good strength and aggression, but got caught on technique and lost two matches on pins. Also dropping two was Kirk Giese, who lost to a pair of Sunnyside wrestlers. His second match, against Bernardo Garcia went into the third round before Garcia caught Giese for the pin with 51 seconds left in the match.
Billy Monroe, a starter from last year, also wrestled at 189 although he weighed in at 174. Coach Omar Flores expects Monroe to be in the 160 pound division by the end of the season. Monroe was on the short end of a 10-6 score against the same Enrique Barajas, who lost to Monroe’s brother, Johnathan.
In the heavier weight classes, Darren Stelter took on Sal Lopez, of Mabton, in an exhibition bout and Kyle Ross wrestled Sunnyside’s Eli Gonzales at 285. Stelter overpowered Lopez and pinned him with just 1:06 gone in the first round.
Ross was locked up in a typical battle of big men, each looking for a throw in the first round, which ended 0-0. Ross started the second round in the down position and Gonzales was able to roll Ross and get the pin with 17 seconds left in the round.
Exchange student, Farid (Tony) Yuri managed to go the distance against Wahluke’s Mendoza, losing 7-1. Yuri did a good job fighting off a pin in the second round.
Also getting a baptism under fire was freshman Zachary Barrett. Wrestling at 215, Barrett was a pin victim, as Mabton’s Lopez avenged his loss to Stelter in just 20 seconds.
There are 14 weight classes from 103 to 285. Goldendale has nine wrestlers weighing from 147 to 235, and only two below 140. That could mean as many as six forfeits, which would be hard to overcome in two-way matches.
For that reason, it will be difficult for the Timberwolves to win the SCAC west team competition, but they could still do well at district if they finish high in five or six classes.
The team gained a wrestler this week, as Nikki Williams transferred from the basketball program to be the only girl wrestler at Goldendale. Williams will wrestle boys in most meets, but will compete in a girls division at district, region and state.
Klickitat, Goldendale take the honors at Jamboree
ANDREW CHRISTIANSEN
Reporter
The games only lasted 10 minutes, but the Klickitat Jamboree was a crowd pleaser and gave most teams a chance get their first game action before the real season starts. The winning teams, Goldendale’s girls, and Klickitat’s boys, were each 2-0 for the Jamboree.
Wins by the Klickitat boys included a great final game against Goldendale that ended 16-14 with Cole Cameron on the foul line and zero on the clock. It was a physical game with Goldendale trying to make something happen inside and the Vandals countering with Levi Sanchey in the middle and a collapsing defensive strategy.
Ron Prominski put the Vandals up 9-8 on a break-away lay-in, and Sanchey made it a three-point lead with a rebound and score at 4:45. A three-pointer by Prominski gave Klickitat a 14-8 lead, before Austin Ross closed the gap to two points, sinking a pair of free throws at 2:15.
Sanchey and Ross traded baskets and the Vandals spread the offense to run the clock.
The Timberwolves used up their fouls to get McConville on the foul line with seven seconds left. The foul shot bounced wide and Cameron flew down the court with the outlet, but was hammered on a lay-in attempt at the buzzer.
Shaking the cobwebs from his head, Cameron stepped to the line, but could not convert and the Vandals had a 16-14 victory.
Lady winners
The Lady Timberwolves’ games were not nearly as close, as they gave up just six points in 20 minutes of play.
Lyle-Wishram was overwhelmed with the Timberwolf pressing defense and Sadie Shattuck and Ashley Barrett owned the paint. It took a buzzer-beater by Taylor Freemantle, to keep the Cougars from being shut-out, as they lost 28-2.
Goldendale’s second game, against Klickitat went much the same way. The Vandals’ chances were hampered when Charice McConville went down with a deep, knee bruise. Samantha Brewer finally got the Vandals on the board with just 1:28 left and the Wolves closed out the game with a 19-4 win.
Other action
Goldendale’s boys also had an exciting battle against a big Lyle-Wishram team.
The Cougars were in sync on defense and worked some nice plays with Mike Eiesland, Kyle Murphy and Henry Matai down low.
At times it looked like Goldendale’s football line was at work, as Aaron Cochran, Blake Lesko, John Bartkowski and Reed Lindhe battled inside.
Sophomores Kaden Milliren and Kane Thiele played with confidence and gave the Timberwolves good ball movement.
The defensive battle was close to the end with Lindhe scoring at the buzzer to make it a 13-10 Goldendale win.
Klickitat girls vs TLG
Klickitat’s girls edged TLG 14-12. Samantha Brewer, of Klickitat, and TLG’s Katie Yarnell led their teams in scoring through the first half of the game. The last half featured the match-up of sophomores Liz Vogt, of TLG and Brewer.
Vogt made things happen, triggering a running game with steals and good ball handling, but she was shut down when TLG ran a set-up offense. Brewer and Zoe Lindner double-teamed the TLG post player, making it difficult to pass her the ball.
Freshman, Lindsey Scott provide some nice ball control for TLG, to break the Vandal press, but defense ruled for the final two minutes of the game and Klickitat held on for the win.
TLG boys vs Klickitat and Lyle-Wishram
TLG tried a lot of combinations on their boys’ team, as Coach Dan Concienne rebuilds a team decimated by graduation. The Mustangs got good play in the middle from 6-4, Andy Wells, and Tygh Schuster fit well at the point guard spot, but the team had difficulty with continuity and lost 26-9 to Klickitat and 11-8 to Lyle-Wishram.
Lyle-Wishram girls vs TLG
The Lady Mustangs defeated Lyle-Wishram 12-8 in a well-played game on both sides.
Timberwolves split SCAC games
Goldendale’s basketball teams matched each others’ performance as each split their opening games against east side opponents, River View and Ki-Be.
River View brought an experienced girls’ squad to Goldendale on Friday night and edged the Timberwolves 53-50 in a physical game.
Both teams were rusty in the early going until Traci Bailey broke the ice at 5:30 of the first quarter with a three-point shot. The Panthers soon answered with a three of their own and the game was on.
Ashley Barrett and Sadie Shattuck battled inside while Kylee Bellamy, Lexi Cameron and Bailey worked the perimeter. Alex Counts relieved a foul-plagued Shattuck in the first half providing valuable rebounding and scoring help for the Wolves.
Bellamy’s aggressive defense helped trigger a streak for Goldendale in the third quarter and matched the Panthers’ Lexie Hess’s three-point shot with one of her own to end the quarter down one at 37-36.
The Panthers gave Goldendale opportunities at the foul line, but the Wolves couldn’t make them pay.
“We were beaten by turnovers and at the free throw line,” said first year coach, Ginger Plum.
The Panthers were 7-11 from the line in the second half, while Goldendale was 9-28 for the entire game.
Ki-Be
Barrett was hot on Saturday, scoring seven of Goldendale’s first quarter points on her way to an 11 point, 14 rebound game. Only two other Timberwolves scored, Bailey with 19 and Shattuck with 16.
Goldendale was cold in the third quarter, scoring just seven points, including five in a row by Bailey. As the game wound down, a Bailey three-pointer proved to be enough for a 46-43 win.
Boys vs River View
Somebody has to do the heavy lifting on any job. That somebody was Reed Lindhe during much of Friday’s game against River View. Goldendale gave Lindhe the job of keeping Drew Sonderland, a 6-6, 250 pound center out of the Panther offense. Lindhe had a little help from freshman, Jordan Foley, and ended up outscoring Sonderland 8-5.
The first quarter score was 9-7, River View, as both teams played great defense. Not much changed through the second quarter as the Panthers took a 19-14 lead into the half.
Goldendale came out pressing in the second half and held an incredible 0-8 edge in turnovers for the quarter to take a 31-25 lead. Chase Wing had the hot hand from the floor, draining three of four three-pointers.
The Panthers turned the table on Goldendale in the fourth quarter, holding the Wolves to just five points. The Timberwolves were just 1-6 from the free throw line, while the Panthers were 5-8.
Wing tied the game at 34 from the foul line, but Juston Grow scored all four of his game points from the free throw line in the final minute of the game for the 39-36 Panther victory.
Ki-Be
Austin Ross led the Wolves to a 49-41 win over Ki-Be on Saturday night. Ross poured in 25 points as the Timberwolves had seven players score.
Goldendale outscored the Bears 25-13 in the middle two quarters to put the game out of reach. Ross shot 4-6 from three-point territory and was 47 percent overall from the floor.
Kayden Milliren had six points and Aaron Cochran and Lindhe each had five.
Royal played in Goldendale on Tuesday night after press time. The next Timberwolf action is Friday in Mattawa against Wahluke.
The Timberwolves return home on Saturday against Warden.
Girls
River View 13 13 11 16 53
Goldendale 12 9 15 14 50
Goldendale 12 8 7 19 46
Ki-Be 8 10 11 14 43
Boys
River View 9 10 6 14 39
Goldendale 7 7 17 5 36
River View – Juan Contreras 15, Sonderland 5, Stan Vanourek 5, Chazz Ludwig 5, Grow 4, Matt Wilhelm 3, Cody Pierce 2. Goldendale – Wing 12, Ross 9, Lindhe 8, Foley 5, Milliren 2.
Goldendale 11 14 11 13 49
Ki-Be 10 8 5 18 41
Goldendale – Ross 25, Milliren 6, Cochran 5, Lindhe 5, Kane Thiele 4, Wing 2, John Barkowski 2. Ki-Be – Hector Quinones 14, Eagon 9, Curtis 7, Gonzales 7, Lucatero 2, Stanford 2.
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