SEDRO-WOOLLEY - Both the boys' and girls' Mount Baker wrestling teams have found stiff competition hard to come by in dual meets this year, but Mountaineers' coach Ron Lepper knew the match Wednesday, Jan. 25, against Sedro-Woolley would be no ordinary matchup.
"Some of the scores this season don't indicate how close some of our (duals) have been, but this is the type of (dual) you want this time of the year," Lepper said.
After nearly two hours of wrestling, the Mountaineers finished 2-0, earning a 43-27 win from the boys' team and a 45-21 victory on the girls' side in two Northwest Conference duals Jan. 25, at Sedro-Woolley High School.
By no means did the wins come easy, though, especially from the Mount Baker boys, as the Mountaineers were seriously pushed for the first time this season.
Mount Baker found itself trailing 27-16 after losing five of the first eight matches in the lower to middle weight classes, but Jerrid George's 12-5 decision over Sedro-Woolley's Josh Farrell at 160 pounds sparked six straight wins by the Mountaineers, as Mount Baker's upper weight class wrestlers outmatched Sedro-Woolley's.
In all, Mount Baker earned four pins to Sedro-Woolley's three pins, as many of the matches lasted a full three periods.
Possibly no match, however, encapsulated Mount Baker's gritty performance throughout the night more then Nazar Bezugly's pin against Sedro-Woolley's Jacob Farrell in the third period at 132.
"Overall, I thought we did pretty good," Bezugly said. "I thought most of our guys fought hard. Coach and everyone knew it was going to be a tough dual. Coach was motivating us all week, saying we need to get pins but not get pinned."
Bezugly heeded Lepper's advice and also earned a little revenge over Farrell, who pinned Bezugly a week and a half ago at the Northwest Conference Wrestling Tournament.
"Nazar was huge tonight," Lepper said. "That kid pinned him two weeks ago. "We were happy to get points out of that."
Trailing 4-2 in the third period, Bezugly earned a two-point reversal to tie the match up at 4-4. Then with 1 minute, 10 seconds left in the final period, Bezugly saw his opening to lock in a cradle, and he took it.
"I was a bit nervous when I was down before I got that reversal," Bezugly said. "He has pretty long arms and got me in an arm bar at Northwest Conference. I knew I had to get the job done. I saw an opportunity for the cradle, and I got it and didn't let go."
The girls' win was a bit more workman like than the boys' victory.
After trailing 15-9 through the first five matches, Mount Baker began to exert its dominance.
The Mountaineers' Megan Young earned a second period pin over Sedro-Woolley's Kirsten Jewell that started a string of wins for Mount Baker.
Lacy Cannon (137) followed Young's pin with a pin of her own. Raney Lepper (145) then pinned Sedro-Woolley's Kendall Stafford in eight seconds.
Cailyah Hobbs (170) earned a first-period pin and Aysha Schwinden (190) also pinned her opponent in the first period, as the Mountaineers cruised to a victory.
It was Dani Mata's narrow 3-2 decision over Sedro-Woolley's Jordyn Adams that Mount Baker girls' coach Clyde Blockley was most pleased with.
"Dani won because the girl was stalling at the end, but I thought she wrestled very hard," Blockley said."
Reach Andrew Lang at andrew.lang@bellinghamherald.com or call 360-756-2862.
MOUNT BAKER 43, SEDRO-WOOLLEY 27
106: Johnny Bute (Sedro-Woolley) pin Calvin Ledet (Mount Baker) 5:32, 113: Carsen Monaghan (Mount Baker) pin Colby Swanburg (Sedro-Woolley) 0:53, 120: Clayton Johnson (Sedro-Woolley) dec. Joseph Laranaga (Mount Baker) 16-1, 126: Joey Walton (Mount Baker) dec. Kyle Robbins (Sedro-Woolley) 12-4, 132: Nazar Bezugly (Mount Baker) pin Jacob Farrell (Sedro-Woolley) 5:02, 138: Boyce Johnson (Sedro-Woolley) dec. Cody Thayer (Mount Baker) 15-2, 145: Kyle Morgan (Sedro-Woolley) pin Alex Tyska (Mount Baker) 1:26, 152: Brady Mast (Sedro-Woolley) pin Zach Larson (Sedro- Woolley) 1:10, 160: Jerrid George (Mount Baker) dec. Josh Farrell 12-5, 170: Levi Wigg (Mount Baker) forfeit, 182: Vlas Bezugly (Mount Baker) pin Reily Seidel (Sedro- Woolley) 0:23, 195: Tyrel Cronk (Mount Baker) pin Gabe Torgerson (Sedro-Woolley) 0:53, 220: Sterling Honeycutt (Mount Baker) dec. Nolan Swartz (Sedro-Woolley) 6-5, 285: Alec Postlewait (Mount Baker) dec. Kevin Rabenstein (Sedro-Woolley) 7-1.
MOUNT BAKER 45, SEDRO-WOOLLEY 21
100: Laura Torrero (Mount Baker) forfeit, 106: Barnes (Sedro-Woolley) forfeit, 112: Emily Iverson (Sedro-Woolley) pin Nicole Boardman (Mount Baker) 3:34, 118: Dani Mata (Mount Baker) dec. Jordyn Adams (Sedro-Woolley) 3-2, 124: Tinerra Adams (Sedro-Woolley) dec. Jessica Mata (Mount Baker) 4-1, 130: Megan Young (Mount Baker) pin Kirsten Jewell (Sedro-Woolley) 3:08, 137: Lacy Cannon (Mount Baker) pin Taylor Dawson (Sedro-Woolley) 1:58, 145: Raney Lepper (Mount Baker) pin Kendall
