“The Spartans grapplers lost to perennial power Central Kitsap by a much-closer-than-expected 44-32 Thursday, in what coach Steve Hohl termed a good outing.Were not for the illness of seniors Travis Dever and Mike Roe and the by now customary heavyweight forfeit, the score could easily have been reversed.Freshman John-Michael King (119 pounds) opened Spartan scoring with his first varsity win, a late pin at 5:45. Fellow freshman Garrett Roe (125) stepped in for Dever and pinned his opponent at the first-round buzzer.Two matches later, Joey Mankes (140) scored five points in the opening round, a whopping 10 in the second and earned a technical fall – awarded for a scoring difference of 15 points or more – early in the third round to win 18-2 and draw Bainbridge within four points at 21-17.After the Spartans gave up six with a forfeit at Roe’s 145 weight, Jacob Hayashi (152) came back with a pin at 1:45 to restore the four-point deficit. Pat Taylor (160) was tied 2-2 after two rounds but scored an escape and takedown to win a 5-3 decision and bring the Spartans within one at 26-27. After Central Kitsap scored a technical fall and pin, Nick McCallum took an early 7-2 lead before recording a pin at 1:42 for the team’s final points of the evening.The team hosts North Kitsap Wednesday. Hohl is still trying to line up teams for a possible double or triple dual meet on Saturday afternoon that would match Olympic League teams against opponents from the opposite side of the Sound. “