Two Oak Harbor wrestlers earn titles at Everett Classic

The Oak Harbor wrestling team placed eighth out of 21 teams and produced two individual champions at the Everett Classic Saturday, Jan. 9.

The Wildcats also were nipped by Stanwood 38-30 in a Wesco North match Friday.

At Everett, Colton Elliot (140 pounds) and Brandon Stratton (145) each earned first place to top the Oak Harbor effort.

The 'Cats also grabbed to other top-four finishes: Corey Trimbur (103) nabbed third and Hunter Vail (189) finished fourth.

Coach Mike Crebbin said the crowd at Stanwood was large and spirited and created a great atmosphere for a match, and for the third year in a row the two teams battled in a close match.

Once again the Wildcats were hurt by having to forfeit a match (130) and the absence injured wrestlers.

After the Spartans won the first match (285 pounds) with a fall and the two teams forfeited at 103, Trimbur (112) won by a technical fall 17-1 and Ben Pralle (119) won by a technical decision 13-8 to give Oak Harbor a 9-6 lead.

Stanwood then reeled off four straight wins to go ahead 27-9.

Elliot (145) broke the Spartan string with a fall (:32), but Stanwood bounced back and won the next three bouts to clinch the match with a 38-15 lead with three matches left.

Oak Harbor won those three matches. Zach Loescher (171) won a major decision 11-2, and Vail (189, :45) and Drew Culver (215, 3:15) won by falls.

Cebbin said he has "mixed emotions" about the weekend: "We are seeing improvements, but we want to see more."

He said he is going to "review our practices" to see if changes need to be made so the team can get to where he would like it to be.

He added, "Our conditioning base is there, and the kids are giving a pretty good effort."

Oak Harbor (0-4, 2-6) travels to Marysville-Pilchuck (3-1, 6-1) to take on the tough Tomahawks Tuesday, Jan. 12.

Contact Whidbey News Times Sports editor Jim Waller at jwaller@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-675-6611 ext. 5060.

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