It wasn’t the 79-0 score that made Enumclaw High’s South Puget Sound League 3A wrestling win over Sumner Jan. 27 big, it was the emotion.
For the Hornets, the road win put the cap on a perfect 8-0 South Puget Sound League 3A season and the league title, the team’s fourth in a row. It was also the Hornets’ 32nd-straight league victory.
Coach Lee Reichert said it’s an achievement for the team’s seniors, who set lofty goals as freshmen four years ago.
“What it means is in their high school career they didn’t lose a single dual match,” Reichert said. “In addition, they’ve won three subdistrict titles, three regional titles and two state titles. That’s a wrestler’s dream; to be that successful in a high school career, and they’re not done yet.”
With the regular season complete, Reichert believes the Hornets’ schedule, which was designed so they were competing at the highest levels, will start to pay dividends as postseason begins Friday at the subdistrict tournament at Auburn Mountainview and continues Saturday. The top four wrestlers in each weight class there advance to the regional tournament Feb. 13.
“The keys for us now are to stay healthy and continue to improve,” Reichert said.
Against Sumner, it was the last match of the night that brought the crowd to its feet as Hornet 140-pounder Kyle Young snatched victory from Spartan Tyler Hidalgo. With a 7-5 third-period lead and the clock ticking down, it looked like Hidalgo would score the Spartans’ first and only win of the night, but Young kept working and picked up three near-fall points at the buzzer for an 8-7 win.
Josh Musick started the night at 152 pounds with the first of six straight Hornet pins – with the others coming from Kario Wallin, Colton Malek, D.J. Qualls, Steven Knapp and, in his first varsity start, Jacob Givens.
Sumner forfeited at 103 pounds to give EHS a 42-0 lead.
Bradley Young scored an 11-2 major decision at 112 pounds before Cole Snider led the Hornets on another pinning binge, getting four straight falls from Snider, Hunter File, Lucas Somera and Tanner Southland. Following the battle between Young and Hildago at 140 the Spartans forfeited at 145 pounds for the final score.
