Ben, my 18 year old step-son, started wrestling a couple of weeks ago and he had a match against Bellingham yesterday. After losing his first match last week he dug in and secured a win this time. Martin was at the matches and tried to use my camera to video the matches. Grace had a great time cheering her brother on.
MOUNT BAKER 35, BELLINGHAM 30
PREP WRESTLING: Baker pins dramatic victory
Mountaineers edge Red Raiders with triple-overtime win in final match of the night
DEMING — With Mount Baker’s first wrestling victory hinging on the outcome of the final match, coach Ron Lepper knew just what to say to his inexperienced heavyweight.
“You win, we win. You lose, we lose,” he told Dylan Reiter seconds before the last match of the night Thursday.
But Lepper couldn’t know that Reiter and Bellingham junior Dane Tilley — in his first action since his freshman year — would go to a third overtime.
Reiter responded with a dramatic 4-3 victory and secured a 35-30 win over the Red Raiders (1-4 overall) in a matchup of two Class 2A Northwest Conference programs.
“I won my first match with a pin in 44 seconds, but I had never been in any situation like that before,” said Reiter, who was in only his second match for the Mounties. “He’s pretty big and I couldn’t move him around, so I just knew I had to score some points.”
“I wanted to see what he was made of and he gave us a chance,” Lepper said.
Bellingham coach Brian Smith was impressed with both big guys.
“Both kids had big hearts in that situation,” he said. “Dane missed all of last year’s sports because of an ACL tear he suffered in the AAU nationals in North Dakota the summer after his freshman year. He’s one of those great kids you can’t say enough about.
“What I liked was that he wasn’t afraid to try stuff and he was constantly moving for a big guy.”
Tilley took a 2-0 first-period lead with a takedown, but a pair of escapes in the second and third periods for Reiter sent the match into a one-minute overtime. When neither scored, a pair of 30- second overtimes enabled Reiter to score on an escape after he was also awarded a point when Tilley locked hands. Tilley’s escape in the third overtime left him just short.
“Dylan caused that handlock (penalty) by keeping moving,” Lepper said.
Smith felt both teams accomplished much.
“It was a fun match,” he said. “There were lots of lessons learned.”
The first big moment for Mount Baker (1-1) was freshman Bryce Postlewait’s first victory, a wild 14-8 decision over sophomore Malcolm Owings at 125. State meet medalist Dawson Patrick won a 19-3 technical fall at 135, followed by state meet participant Eli Jacoby’s first-round pin at 140.
Victories by Baker’s Ben La Vergne at 160 and Robert Bumatay at 189 set up the crowd-pleasing final. La Vergne defeated sophomore Jack Morgan 10-8 and Bumatay beat Jake Clary 8-5, indicating how close this match was.
Bellingham’s highlights included junior Garrett Montanez’s 18-2 technical fall over state meet participant James Calhoun at 119 and Michael Takemura’s 12-0 win at 130 over Tom Williamson in a matchup of state meet qualifiers. J.T. Fitz Gerald (145) and Gabe Ketchum (152) scored first-round pins for the Red Raiders and Riley Mullett (171) kept them in the match with an 8-3 victory.
“This is the least experienced team we’ve had since our 1995-96 team,” said Lepper, in his 14th season as head coach. “I’m real pleased to get a win like this at home.”
PREP WRESTLING: Baker pins dramatic victory
Mountaineers edge Red Raiders with triple-overtime win in final match of the night
DEMING — With Mount Baker’s first wrestling victory hinging on the outcome of the final match, coach Ron Lepper knew just what to say to his inexperienced heavyweight.
“You win, we win. You lose, we lose,” he told Dylan Reiter seconds before the last match of the night Thursday.
But Lepper couldn’t know that Reiter and Bellingham junior Dane Tilley — in his first action since his freshman year — would go to a third overtime.
Reiter responded with a dramatic 4-3 victory and secured a 35-30 win over the Red Raiders (1-4 overall) in a matchup of two Class 2A Northwest Conference programs.
“I won my first match with a pin in 44 seconds, but I had never been in any situation like that before,” said Reiter, who was in only his second match for the Mounties. “He’s pretty big and I couldn’t move him around, so I just knew I had to score some points.”
“I wanted to see what he was made of and he gave us a chance,” Lepper said.
Bellingham coach Brian Smith was impressed with both big guys.
“Both kids had big hearts in that situation,” he said. “Dane missed all of last year’s sports because of an ACL tear he suffered in the AAU nationals in North Dakota the summer after his freshman year. He’s one of those great kids you can’t say enough about.
“What I liked was that he wasn’t afraid to try stuff and he was constantly moving for a big guy.”
Tilley took a 2-0 first-period lead with a takedown, but a pair of escapes in the second and third periods for Reiter sent the match into a one-minute overtime. When neither scored, a pair of 30- second overtimes enabled Reiter to score on an escape after he was also awarded a point when Tilley locked hands. Tilley’s escape in the third overtime left him just short.
“Dylan caused that handlock (penalty) by keeping moving,” Lepper said.
Smith felt both teams accomplished much.
“It was a fun match,” he said. “There were lots of lessons learned.”
The first big moment for Mount Baker (1-1) was freshman Bryce Postlewait’s first victory, a wild 14-8 decision over sophomore Malcolm Owings at 125. State meet medalist Dawson Patrick won a 19-3 technical fall at 135, followed by state meet participant Eli Jacoby’s first-round pin at 140.
Victories by Baker’s Ben La Vergne at 160 and Robert Bumatay at 189 set up the crowd-pleasing final. La Vergne defeated sophomore Jack Morgan 10-8 and Bumatay beat Jake Clary 8-5, indicating how close this match was.
Bellingham’s highlights included junior Garrett Montanez’s 18-2 technical fall over state meet participant James Calhoun at 119 and Michael Takemura’s 12-0 win at 130 over Tom Williamson in a matchup of state meet qualifiers. J.T. Fitz Gerald (145) and Gabe Ketchum (152) scored first-round pins for the Red Raiders and Riley Mullett (171) kept them in the match with an 8-3 victory.
“This is the least experienced team we’ve had since our 1995-96 team,” said Lepper, in his 14th season as head coach. “I’m real pleased to get a win like this at home.”
MICHELLE NOLAN FOR THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
An in other news... we won the "Chocolate Connection" at work yesterday. It's a KAFE104.3 local radio stations contest where you enter the name of your office into a draw. The funny thing is that I just sent the e-mail like at the beginning of the week and here they show up at Treasury with almost 10 pounds of chocolate, I kid you not! I wasn't workign on Thursday so I got to taste the leftovers today and man, was it worth it. YUMMY!
