Published: Friday, January 26, 2007

Vikings are champs again

Lake Stevens beats Everett for 18th straight league = title

By Rich Myhre / Herald Writer

EVERETT - For Lake Stevens, it was the final-meet victo= ry to cap another undefeated Western Conference North Division wrestling season.<= br>
For Everett, it was a gritty performance against the top-ranked Class 4A te= am in the state.

Both head coaches - Brent Barnes from Lake Stevens and Everett's Brian Elli= ott - had reason to smile on Thursday night following the Vikings' 35-25 victor= y in the Everett gym.

"I thought we wrestled pretty good," B= arnes said. "I knew Everett would give us a great match, which they did. They definitely have some very good kids."

Elliott, meanwhile, said he was "real proud" of his team. The Seagulls, he went on, "came out and battled. None of them gave up and = you can't ask for anything more. All you can ask is for your kids to give their all.

"You're going to lose sometimes," he added, "but if you lose= the right way, going after it, you can be proud of your kids. ... They feel good about their effort. They're excited they had a shot. If a couple of matches= go a different way, we're right there."

Everett is still smarting from a 35-29 loss to Snohomish on Monday night, an outcome that kept the Seagulls from taking an unblemished league mark into Thursday's showdown with Lake Stevens.

"Against Snohomish, we weren't ready," Elliott said. "But our kids were ready to wrestle tonight. They definitely had a lot of improvement since Monday, so we're excited about that."

Everett opened the night with an 11-4 decision by Parker Burns at 215 pounds and a pin by John Raby at 285 pounds, giving the Seagulls a 9-0 lead and putting a stir into the home fans.

But Lake Stevens followed with three straight victories to move on top to s= tay. A win by Everett's Matt Beck at 125 pounds cut Lake Stevens' margin to 15-1= 3, but from there the Vikings pulled away with a succession of victories.

Kelly Kubec of Lake Stevens had the evening's quickest pin, ending his 135-pound match against Colby Hudson with 23 secon= ds left in the first period.

Kubec, a two-time state champion, has actually = had a sore knee in recent days, "but he was going to wrestle," Barnes s= aid. "This was his last (high school) dual meet, so it would have been hard= to hold him back."

B.J. Alewine had an earlier pin for Lake Steven= s at 119 pounds.

Pins for Everett went to Raby and Nick Salsbury at 171 pounds.

Barnes was pleased with the effort of Josh Eacrett at 130 pounds. Eacrett notched a 12-1 major decisi= on against Everett's John Kuehn.

"Josh did a really nice job," Barnes said. "He's behind Kell= y Kubec in the lineup, so he doesn't get a chance to sh= ine very often."

Elliott, meanwhile, praised the showing of Everett's Cole Anderson at 140 pounds. He posted a hard-fought 7-4 victory over Josh Monson.

"Cole just did an excellent job," Elliott said. "I think Mon= son could be the state champ in 4A - I respect him that much - and I think Cole= got a huge win for us there and solidified his attitude heading into districts,= regionals and state. He's ready and he's very focused."

Elliott knew his team was facing a huge challenge against the mighty Viking= s, "but we were really excited to be able to beat some of their top kids. That's what you need to do to be a team that's going far in the postseason.= you've got to be able to win those big matches."<= br>
At Everett H.S.

215-Burns (E) dec. Austin 11-4; 285-J. Raby (E) pinned Tueber 1:= 18 3rd; 103-Zweifel (LS) tech. fall over Bearer 19-0; 112-Johnson (LS) maj. dec. Lucero 10-0; 119-Alewine (LS) pinned Pound :41 2nd; 125-Beck (E) ma= j. dec. Anderson 9-1; 130-Eacrett (LS) maj. dec. Kuehn 12-1; 135= -Kubec (LS) pinned Hudson :23 1st; 140-Anderson (E) dec. Monson 7-4; 145- Tipton (LS) dec. Covert 5-1; 152-Bergman (LS) dec. Boyce 7-1; 160-Hughes (LS= ) maj. dec. Husman 10-2; 171-Salsbury (E) pinned Walkley1:04 3rd; 189-Anstett (E) dec. McGuire 1-0. Records-Lake St= evens 8-0 in league, 11-1 overall. Everett 6-2, 7-2.