Cats remain undefeated

Even after trouncing Cascade 47-12 Thursday night and moving to 3-0 in league and 6-0 overall, Oak Harbor wrestling coach Brian Farmer remains modest about his team’s accomplishments.

“We’re doing well,” he said. “We’ve just got to keep going, we’re not where we want to be yet.”

If they’re not there yet, they certainly appear to be getting close.

The Wildcats continued to dominate their competition, winning 10 of 14 matches against the Bruins.

“We didn’t give up any pins…so I was really pleased,” Farmer said.

Junior Jeff Lang (130 pounds) got the momentum rolling for Oak Harbor with a 10-5 decision over Chad Johnson in the night’s opening match. Trailing 4-0 at the start of the second period, Lang turned the tables on his opponent with a one-point escape and two-point take down before the period expired. He then controlled the third and final frame, rallying for seven points and the win.

Oak Harbor went on to take three more consecutive matches by decision, for a 15-0 lead.

After giving up their first points of the night on a decision, the Cats closed any hopes Cascade had of getting back in the match. Four wrestlers, senior Patrick O’Brien (171), senior Ryan Lange (189), senior Blake Ward (215) and senior Mike Davis (275) slammed the door on the Bruins. O’Brien, Lange and Davis all gathered first-round pins, while Ward dominated his opponent for a 17-2 technical fall 23 seconds into the second round.

Senior co-captain Tony Nicolas (140), who moved his overall record to 13-1 with a decision over Brady Douglas, is extremely happy about what the Cats have been able to accomplish through their first six dual meets.

“We started off slow, but things are starting to pick up,” he said. “We got a lot of kinks out of our system.”

The fact that Oak Harbor is getting stronger can only be good news for the Cats, who still have formidable opponents on their schedule in Stanwood and defending champion Lake Stevens.

“We’ve got a pretty good shot against them,” Nicolas said. “I believe we can beat them this year.”

Oak Harbor competes in the Sedro-Woolley tournament at 10 a.m., today, Dec. 20. They don’t have another dual meet until they travel to Lake Stevens on Thursday, Jan. 8.

130-Lang (OH) dec. Johnson, 10-5; 135-Miller (OH) technical fall over Morrison, 16-0; 140-Wichers (OH) dec. Douglas, 15-2; 145-Nicolas (OH) dec. Metz, 8-4; 152-Larson (C) dec. Clark, 9-4; 160-Soptich (OH) dec. Vigoren, 9-2; 171-O'Brien (OH) pinned McClinchey, 1:41; 189-Lange (OH) pinned Kendo, 1:44; 215-Ward (OH) technical fall over Smith; 275-Davis (OH) pinned McKinlay, 1:15.103-Walt (C) dec. Miller, 11-10; 112-Bates (C) dec. Pegus, 2-0; 119-Gilbertson (C) dec. R. Lemme, 5-2; 125-S. Lemme (OH) pinned Gilbert, 3:58;

Oak Harbor 37, Snohomish 26

Snohomish jumped out to a surprising lead over Oak Harbor Tuesday night, but the Wildcats battled back to take a 37-26 league victory over the Panthers.

Sophomore Bobby Pegues (112) picked up a big pin for the Cats after trailing in the third period. Senior Steve Lemme (125) also gained a crucial 5-4 decision after trailing late in his match.

Others picking up pins for the Cats include Jeff Lang (130), Chris Wichers (140) and Karlson Miller (103).

189-Whitlock (S) pinned R. Lange, 1:32 2nd; 215-Ward (OH) dec. Burke, 4-3; 275-Stach (S) pinned Davis, :19 3rd. 103-K. Miller (OH) pinned Their, :37 1st; 112-Pegues (OH) pinned Walker, 1:43 3rd; 119-Hise (S) dec. R. Lemme, 15-7; 125-S. Lemme (OH) dec. Ferrin, 5-4; 130-J. Lang (OH) pinned Harness, 1:18 2nd; 135-Schukar (S) dec. G. Miller, 8-0; 140-Wichers (OH) pinned McDonnell, :37 1st; 145-Nicolas (OH) dec. Houck, 10-2; 152-Gere (S) dec. Clark, 5-0; 160-Soptich (OH) dec. Coffman, 6-2; 171-Fortin (S) dec. O’Brien, 10-8.

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