Spartan grapplers pinned by Interlake on home mat

Fatigue might have finally caught the Skyline wrestling team Monday night in its home gym.

By Kevin Endejan • January 29, 2009 1:47 pm
Joey Christianson of Skyline pinned Interlake’s Bill Loyer with 30 seconds left in Monday’s match. It was Christianson’s 18th pin of the season.
Joey Christianson of Skyline pinned Interlake’s Bill Loyer with 30 seconds left in Monday’s match. It was Christianson’s 18th pin of the season.

Fatigue might have finally caught the Skyline wrestling team Monday night in its home gym.

Competing in their fourth meet in seven days, the Spartans were unable to hang on to a late lead, falling 45-28 to non-league Interlake.

“We were flat today, we had a hard week,” head coach Gus Kiss said. “(Interlake) wrestled well, you can’t take anything away from them.”

The Spartans led 28-21 headed into the final four matches. But two forfeits at 215 and 285 pounds, coupled with pins at 103 and 112, sealed the deal for the Saints.

Skyline built its seven-point lead by rattling off four straight wins at 152, 160, 171 and 189 pounds. Larson Caldwell (152) started the rally off with an 11-3 major decision over Bobby Mueller. Caldwell, who led 4-3 midway through the second round, pulled a two-point reversal with 5 seconds left in the second. He closed out the match with another two-point reversal and a three-point nearfall to nab his team four points and improve his record to 21-8.

Danny Christianson (160) followed with a clutch pin. Up 7-6 over Bill Loyer, Christianson shot in on his opponent with 30 seconds left in the match and rolled him to his back for a pin. Ryan Adamson (171) jumped out to a fast start and fended off Frank Silva down the stretch for a 9-7 decision. Adamson led 5-0 after the first round. Silva pulled to within one, 6-5, but Adamson used an escape and two-point takedown to go up for good. Anthony DeMatteo (189) earned a two-point takedown to start his match against Andy Agus and held on for a 2-0 decision. The victory improved last year’s third place state finisher at 171 pounds to 10-1 on the season.

“They wrestled well,” said Kiss, of his four middleweights.

Nolan Richards (135) also had a dominating performance, pinning Jordan Todd just 58 seconds into the first round. He moved to 21-8 with the victory.

“He’s had a good year, I think he has 18 pins now,” Kiss said.

Skyline, which moved to 9-6 in dual meets, continued its marathon schedule Wednesday and Thursday. The Spartans faced Issaquah on Wednesday and took on Mount Si and Liberty in a double-dual Thursday.

Despite giving up 12 forfeit points every match at 215 and 285 pounds, Kiss likes what he continues to see from his group.

“We’re young, but the kids are wrestling well,” he said.

KingCo 4A wrestling championships run Feb. 6-7 at Juanita High School.

103-Mui (Int) pinned Kiss 2:59; 112- Kawashima (Int) pinned C. Caldwell 5:52; 119- Lim (Sky) win by forfeit; 125- Okrent (Int) 5-0 dec. over Ehert; 130- Lian (Int) pinned Stamper 2:49; Richards (Sky) pinned Todd :58; 140- Marks (Int) pinned McCaslin 3:02; 145-Schultz (Int) pinned Heimbeck 4:50; 152-L. Caldwell (Sky) 11-3 major dec. over Mueller; 160- Christianson (Sky) pinned Loyer 5:30; 171- Adamson (Sky) 9-7 dec. over Silva; 189- DeMatteo (Sky) 2-0 dec. over Agus; 215- Henderson (Int) win by forfeit; 285- Spading (Int) win by forfeit.