Area wrestlers snag league titles | Prep wrestling

February 8, 2010 6:56 pm

Several area wrestlers captured league titles as the conference tournaments were carried out at Juanita (KingCo 4A) and Liberty (KingCo 3A) high schools.

Kevin McCanta of Newport captured his second KingCo title in the 152-pound class at the 4A tournament while Bellevue’s Matt Casimes (112) and Erik Ovens (152) captured their second straight KingCo titles in the 3A meet. Newport’s Winston Chen (130) and Shawn Wisenburgh (145) and Bellevue’s Josh Speizle (125) also captured league titles.

Woodinville won the KingCo 4A team title with a narrow two point victory over Lake Washington, while Mercer Island took KingCo 3A with 202 points, beating out Bellevue (157) and Liberty (148).

McCanta beat Skyline’s Danny Christianson 7-2 for his second title; he also won KingCo in 2008. Chen defeated Inglemoor’s Rob Zsigmondovics 8-2 while Weisenburgh earned his title with a 9-7 decision over Lake Washington’s Zach Chrysanthou.

Casimes beat Liberty’s Dan Velasquez 7-2 for the 112-pound title, Spiezle knocked off Mercer Island’s Kyle Shanafelt 3-2 in the 125-pound bout and Ovens had a 5-2 decision over the Islander’s Phil Frazier in 152.

Several area wrestlers earned second place finishes, as Bellevue’s Jun Park (130), Will Fields (189), Jimmy Trull (215) and Jin Park (285) and Sammamish’s Logan Vautier (171) were defeated in championship matches.

The Interlake girls wrestling team finished in fourth place at the Subregional 2 tournament at Juanita High School in Kirkland. Interlake’s Brandae Grein won the 152-pound title with a 11-4 decision over Lake Stevens’ Josefine Nowak. Interlake’s Summer Hanson was the 119-pound runner up, losing to Lakeside’s Aika Mitchell 8-7.

The Saints boys team finished fourth at the Class 2A sub-regional tournament in Sequim. Feyman Liang pinned teammate Jake Wilson in 4:23 to capture the 135-pound title. Saint’s runners-up were Jacob Marks, who lost to two-time state placer Neil Sell of Klahowya in the 152-pound championship and Christian Schultz, who was beaten 12-4 by Klahowya’s Ammon Jenson.

Interlake’s regional qualifiers will travel to Washington High School for the regional meet. KingCo 3A qualifiers will wrestle Friday and Saturday at Liberty High School and the KingCo 4A league will compete against the South Puget Sound League in the 4A Region II tournament at Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way.