Too many close losses, forfeits seal Sparts’ fate against Wildcats.

During a wrestling match, it’s that one move that is – or isn’t made – that can cost a wrestler points, or worse, a loss.

Head coach Dan Pippinger was frustrated with how the Bainbridge wrestling team did in a 54-21 loss against a tough West Seattle team Thursday night in the last home match of the season.

“They took advantage of opportunities that we gave them,” he said. “We just got a little bit out of position at times and they took advantage of it.”

At 135 pounds, D’Lonn Ferry did just that by defeating Eli Narte in an 8-6 decision in overtime.

Ferry put Narte in a 5-1 hole in the first period, but the junior fought back to eventually tie it at six.

After a scoreless third quarter where neither wrestler could maintain his position long enough to score a takedown or a nearfall, Ferry took advantage in the overtime period by scoring a takedown.

Keith Robert also lost a close match to Jesse Roark in the 152-pound category.

Robert had a 4-0 lead halfway through the second, but a mistake allowed Roark to score a reversal and a nearfall to take the lead.

Roark added another point by escape.

In the 215-pound category, Jethro Cotton kept with Michael Oliver as the two were tied late in the second period before Oliver scored a point off an escape.

Oliver scored another escape point before pinning Cotton with 57 seconds left in the third.

At 119 pounds, Vlad Rakhimzyanov and Chris Morson were in a tight battle before Rakhimzyanov was pinned at 3:26.

“I really felt like that some of the matches that were close at the end, we were wrestling better that match than our opponent,” Pippinger said. “But we made mistakes that really hurt us.”

But some Spartans had success against Wildcat wrestlers.

Mathew Ritualo kept the speedy Delano Jordan from breaking out of his holds before pinning him at the 2:54 mark.

Corey Touchette won a hard fought 5-3 decision over Johnny Nguyen while Mike Furman pinned Eli Swedlow in 34 seconds.

“Mathew had a great match,” Pippinger said. “He wrestled physical and tough.

“Corey came out and wrestled really hard,” he continued. “Anytime we get a freshman get a decision we feel really good about that and his future.”

The Wildcats earned 20 points off of forfeits.

It was an easier time against Ingraham Tuesday.

Six Bainbridge wrestlers won by forfeit while Ritualo, Cotton and Mason Remy won by pinfall.

Narte won his match by technical fall.

At the Island Invitational last weekend, seven wrestlers placed.

Ritualo was second in the 130-pound category, while Narte took fourth and Brenden Henesey was eighth in the 135-pound category.

Furman took fifth in the 145 pound category while Robert was fourth in the 152-pound category.

James Gaunavinaka was sixth in the 160-pound category while Remy was fourth in the 189-pound category.

The Spartans finished 11th with 79 points, as Forks won with 228.

Bainbridge travels to Eastside Catholic next Tuesday and Nathan Hale next Thursday before starting the postseason with the Metro tournament Feb. 1-2.

OAR NW back at it

It’s a little hard to believe, but it’s been almost two years since the OAR Northwest crew rowed the Atlantic and made some history.

But the foursome haven’t just sat back and basked in the glow of their accomplishments.

“We’re definitely keeping busy,” Greg Spooner said.

Along with work (both Dylan LeValley and Brad Vickers are working on the Seattle Boat Show after working for Northwest Marine Trade Association and Emerald Harbor Marine) and school (Spooner was accepted to the University of Puget Sound’s Therapy school last fall) the crew is lining up their next round of adventures.

Currently, Jordan Hanssen is in Australia riding his bike from Perth to Sydney.

Once he returns, both he and Spooner will begin planning for their next adventure: rowing from New York to Nome, Alaska.

The two came about it when they were in the middle of their row across the Atlantic.

“We weren’t even done with the last one and here we are planning the next one,” Spooner said. “It gave us something to talk about.

“It’s exciting to say the least,” he continued. “It’s a great challenge.”

The duo plan to row the many rivers and streams in Canada to make their arrival in Nome.

They’ll wait until Spooner finishes school, then leave in February or March of 2011.

“It’ll give us more time to plan,” he said. “Another plus is that it’s a heck of a lot cheaper” than their row across the ocean, which cost a total of $250,000.

“I don’t see this costing more than $60,000,” Spooner continued, noting that they’ll have the cost covered through grants and sponsors. “We’ll just bring a month or two of food, fishing gear, shotguns and a boat.”

As for the boat they made their journey in, it’s currently stored in Ballard, but they’ve had a few offers to buy the boat from them.

They’ve also had a few rowers from UPS make serious inquiries into taking the boat out for a row.

“The Atlantic row fueled the fire for us,” Spooner said. “There’s no turning back now – much to the chagrin of our families and girlfriends.”

To follow Hanssen’s journey across Australia, visit http://bikeperthtosydney.googlepages.com.

Tumblers keep on winning

The Bainbridge gymnastics team is rounding out into a state quality squad.

Adrienne Palay and Anne Schwartz took first in the all-around in successive meets as the Spartans won two dual meets over the past week.

Against Shorewood, Shorecrest and North Kitsap/Kingston, Palay was first with a score of 33.75 – just .10 of a point ahead of North Kitsap’s Melissa Kunold.

Her highest finish was on the beam with a score of 8.8.

She tied for second with Kunold on the floor exercise with a score of 9.35.

Palay also tied for fourth on the bars and the vault with Katie Mathews as both scored an 8.5.

Mathews took sixth on the floor with a score of 9.15.

Bainbridge took first with a team score of 157.7.

Against West Seattle, Schwartz took first in the all-around thanks to her first place finishes on the vault with an 8.8, the beam with an 8.6 and a tie for first on the floor with Annie Zuckerman with a score of 7.7.

Sophie Wenzlau was second on the beam with a score of 8.5 while Palay took second on the vault with a score of 8.6.

Lauren Fleming took first on the bars with a score of 7.5.

Now 14-0 on the season, the Spartans traveled to Nathan Hale to face the Raiders and Ingraham yesterday, then host West Seattle next Tuesday.

Swimmers go out in style

In their last meet of the home season, the Bainbridge boys swim and dive team didn’t leave with a win against Seattle Prep last Friday, but put up some solid performances to leave them feeling good about their immediate future.

Austin Hallett tried for the pool record for the 50 freestyle but missed it by seconds, as he posted a time of 22.34.

“I was trying for the record but I just didn’t pull it out,” he said. “There’s a couple of things that I know that I could do differently, but after that race, everybody’s still smiling.

“It’s all about the feeling of being a senior – not so much about the times we get.”

Those seniors – Hallett, Cheyne Clark, Cooper Ashley, Eli Jacobsen, PJ Trimble, Matt Tetlow and Lee and Lane Baldwin – got to enjoy some success in the water.

Hallett scored a state mark of 53.52 in the 100 backstroke while he, Ashley, David Ortyn and Kevin Brooks set a state qualifying time of 3:26.45 in the 400 freestyle relay.

“I could feel the energy,” Hallett said. “We had more rest because of the girls heats in between. We had twice as much rest as we normally have.”

The 200 medley relay team of Ortyn, Hallett, Brooks and Cheyne Clark set a state time of 1:43.97.

The same foursome bettered that time at the Kentridge Invite with a mark of 1:41.41, breaking the school mark that had stood for 12 years.

Bainbridge also defeated last year’s state champ Kennedy for first place.

The team traveled to West Seattle yesterday.