The Bainbridge High School varsity wrestling team bested comers from Garfield and Franklin Thursday, Dec. 6 at their first home match of the year.
Coming on the heels of a 1-1 road match the previous week, the first test of the year, it was a resounding, refreshing tone-setter for the Spartans.
First, against Garfield, the island squad claimed a 51-30 win, with all but one of the visitor’s wins coming from forfeits.
BHS accumulated nine wins against the Bulldogs.
In the 106-pound bracket, Bainbridge’s Harrison Cate pinned Garfield’s Nathan Snow in 5:26, Garrett Swanson (113) pinned Binh Vo in 1:24 and Hiram Topham (120) pinned Elijah Adorno in 2:58.
Garfield claimed forfeit wins in the 126- and 132-pound slots.
BHS’ Cameron Williams (138) then pinned Simon Collins in 5:09.
Bainbridge bruiser Doug Takada (145) claimed an injury default win against Leo McHegg. BHS captain Oleg Maguire (152) pinned Xavier Weaver in just 51 seconds, and Ben Dunscombe (160) scored a 3-0 decision win against Joseph Demonte.
In the 170-pound match, Garfield’s Elek Thomas-Toth pinned Caroline Michaels in 5:47.
Garfield scored forfeit wins in the 182- and 285-pound brackets.
Bainbridge’s Julian Blythe (195) pinned Colin Bryant in 1:06.
And, in the 220-pound slot, BHS’ Tyler Pickett won by forfeit.
The Spartans also came out ahead against Franklin, 40-30.
The Spartans claimed forfeit victories in the 106-, 113- and 138-pound matches. Franklin scored forfeit wins in the 126-, 170- and 285-pound matches. And double forfeits negated the 132- and 182-pound slots.
Hiram Topham (120) pinned Ming Ming Li in just 51 seconds.
Franklin’s Luke Hauser pinned Doug Takada in 2:16 in the 145-pound match.
Oleg Maguire (152) managed an 8-0 major decision win against Danny Nguyen.
Ben Dunscombe pinned Ian Colbert in 5:19 in the 160-pound match.
Julian Blythe (195) pinned Zion Maliett in 3:54.
Franklin’s Stone Williams pinned Tyler Pickett in 1:07 in the 220-pound match.
Match wise, the twofold win bumped the Spartans’ overall season record to 3-1. They subsequently began a series of road matches and tournaments, and are not scheduled to wrestle at home again until 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10, against Lakeside and Bishop Blanchet.
The annual BHS-based, multi-school tournament, the Island Invitational, is set to begin at 7 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 12 and will reportedly feature wrestlers from Kingston, Kennedy Catholic, Olympic, Port Angeles and Sequim.
