Four Of Best Featured
Two high-powered matches highlight this week’s high school wrestling schedule.
Unbeaten Central Valley and Gonzaga Prep, Greater Spokane League co-champs last year with University, square off Wednesday night at G-Prep.
Two of the area’s best teams regardless of class, defending state champions Lakeside (A) and East Valley (AA), meet Thursday night at EV.
Both matches start at 7:30.
CV and G-Prep are 5-0 with a two-match advantange over a quartet of schools.
The weights from 158 and higher are strengths for both schools and will go a long way toward determining the outcome.
Gonzaga has an edge in the three lower weights and CV an advantage in the next four.
East Valley and Lakeside have been dominating again, both winning at least one invitational title this season. Lakeside, one of the smallest schools, finished second in the 32-team Tri-State Tournament last month.
The two teams followed similar paths to their respective state titles last year.
Knights coach Craig Hanson was Eagles coach Scott Jones’ assistant before taking the EV job three years ago. The two schools participate in a joint venture intensive camp during the summer.
Lakeside, which tied Medical Lake a year ago, dominated the Cardinals in their Great Northern League opener. The Eagles play host to Riverside tonight in the last likely obstacle before their Jan. 29 showdown with former Frontier League school Colville.
The four-team Frontier League wrestling season will be condensed into five dates during a two-week period between Jan. 20 and Feb. 3.
But the title could be determined early when defending champion EV travels to last year’s runner-up, Clarkston, on Thursday, Jan. 22.
, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: FRONTIER WRESTLING Projected finish: East Valley, Clarkston, West Valley, Cheney. League season: Jan. 20-Feb. 3. League openers: East Valley at Clarkston, Cheney at West Valley. Defending league champion: East Valley. Returning district champions: Kevin Woolf, sr., EV; Justin Walker, sr., EV; Mike Gibson, sr., Cheney; Bryan Skinner, sr., Clarkston; Rusty Ruchert, sr., EV; Tyson Thivierge, sr., Clarkston; Aaron Boyd, sr., Clarkston. Returning Region IV champions: Brad Crockett, sr., EV; Thivierge. Returning State AA placers: Walker, second, 122 pounds; Crockett, second, 141; Woolf, fourth, 115; Thivierge, fifth, 178; Gibson, sixth, 141. Notable: East Valley, the defending State AA champion, returns 15 wrestlers who competed in last year’s district tournament, including six regional veterans.