Best three-of-four.

That was the Bainbridge match in a nutshell against Eastside Catholic Tuesday, as the Crusaders brought only four wrestlers to their meet against the Spartans.

Bainbridge won handily, 58-6.

Bainbridge gave up one win, a forfeit in the 170-pound class to Eastside Catholic’s Bradley Strode.

The action then came down to just three matches, and Bainbridge won 2-of-3 with pins.

It almost would have been a straight sweep, as Jack Miller (132-pound) of Bainbridge nearly pinned Mattieu Boss just before the buzzer sounded in rounds two and three.

Miller continued on to a 16-3 major decision.

Liam Topham (138) wrestled next for BHS, and pinned Tanner Eggert in 1:50.

In the short evening’s final battle, Bainbridge picked up another win-by-win when Weber Coryell (182) shouldered Connor Heger in 57 seconds.

Bainbridge Coach Dan Pippinger said Miller might have finished with a pin — or had chances for one — if he had been more aggressive earlier in the round and not been as tentative.

Topham’s match was a good confidence booster for the young wrestler, Pippinger added.

And Coryell?

“He’s a solid senior and he just went out and did what he was supposed to do,” Pippinger said.

Both Bainbridge and Eastside Catholic double forfeited at the start and finish of the meet, with no contenders field in the 106-, 113- and 285-classes.

Bainbridge quickly outpointed Eastside Catholic with forfeit wins. Seven Spartans secured solo W’s: Jonathan Gallivan, Chaney Weaver (126), Dylan Read (145), Aaron Jumpa (152), Joaquin Gurza (160), John Zhang (195) and Mike Grant (220).

The meet ended so soon, the combined time on the mat added to less than 10 minutes.

Pippinger said Eastside Catholic did not bring many athletes to the meet because the Crusaders had their focus elsewhere.

“That was pretty discouraging. Apparently it’s finals week for them and the kids and parents thought that staying home was important,” Pippinger said.

Finals started for Bainbridge this week, as well, but the Spartan athletes were able to balance the demands of their sport and their grades.

More than the end of the semester is near, however. The Spartans finish their wrestling season at home Tuesday against West Seattle.

“I’m not quite sure about the depth of their roster either, but I’m at least hoping that finals are over,” Pippinger said.

That said, Pippinger added it may not be a full match for reasons that go beyond academics.

Teams throughout the league have had players out due to sickness, and the bug has bitten Bainbridge pretty hard as well.

“For the last two weeks I’ve had half a team,” he said. “I haven’t had a full room of wrestlers, the full squad, for quite some time.”

Bainbridge was still relatively healthy up through the Island Invitational earlier this month.

Port Angeles won the invite with a score of 226.5, while Forks was second with 187 and Klahowya third with 155.

Bainbridge took fourth place with a score of 136.

“We could have achieved more,” he said.

Still, Pippinger said, the invitational was a good lesson for his wrestlers on the value of competing with drive and intensity.

Read had a great tournament, the coach said, as did Alex Hoover.

Read (145) defeated Aron Dela Zerda of Forks with a technical fall at the 2:53 mark, then advance to beat Abisai Garcia of Forks in another technical fall in 1:52.

Read won the champion title with a 5-1 decision over Davon Johnson of Clover Park.

Hoover prevailed against Josh Watson of Snohomish with a 11-0 technical fall decision, then advanced to beat Ben Smith of Bremerton with a 6-2 win before heading into the title round.

Against Matt Barnes of Klahowya, Hoover continued to roll and secured the championship with a 2-0 victory.

After the Spartans’ last home meet — a Senior Night event on Tuesday, Jan. 29 that includes a food drive for Helpline House — Bainbridge will get ready for the Metro Conference meet that starts Friday, Feb. 1 at Nathan Hale High in Seattle.

The Spartans hope to be in better health, for starters.

“As a coach, part of me feels we’re a week behind and we’re just trying to catch up,” Pippinger said.

“On the flip side, I trust these guys,” he said.

“Being sick for a few weeks doesn’t eliminate all the good work that a kid’s done,” Pippinger said.

Some of the Spartans have also been wrestling for three years, and have skills honed over time to rely on, he said.

“I trust that they have been training hard. I trust that they are going to be ready and they know what’s at stake and they are prepared to handle the pressure and perform well,” he said.

31st Annual Island Invitational Results

Championship: 106 — Sebastian Morales (Forks) d. Tyler Gale (Port Angeles), 3-0; 113 — Brady Anderson (Port Angeles) d. Cameron Dubos (Bremerton), 8-2; 120 — Adam Burchett (Klahowya) d. Josh Basden (Port Angeles), 7-2; 126 — Jesse Marek (Blan) d. Ozzy Swagerty (Port Angeles), 6-4; 132 — Brian Burchett (Klahowya) d. Taron Castleton (Mountlake Terrace), 16-0; 138 — Ricky Barragan (Forks) d. Luke Mooney (Sequim), 7-6; 145 — Dylan Read (Bainbridge Island) d. Davon Johnson (Clover Park), 5-1; 152 — Alex Hoover (Bainbridge Island) d. Matt Barnes (Klahowya), 2-0; 160 — James Salazar (Forks) d. Devon Gipson (Bremerton), 5-2; 170 — Brian Christion (Port Angeles) d. Syd Springberg (Mountlake Terrace), 12-4; 182 — Matt Robbins (Port Angeles) d. Tyler Moniz (Bainbridge Island), 5-3; 195 — Taylor Jones (Bremerton) d. Peter Morrill (Snohomish), 2-0; 220 — Rusty Hoffman (Bremerton) d. Roberton Coronel (Port Angeles), 6-5; 285 — Miguel Morales (Forks) d. Michael Myers (Port Angeles), 3-1.