South Whidbey wrestling fell to Cedarcrest, the third team loss to a Cascade Conference opponent this season, on Jan. 23.

Cedarcrest won eight matches to South Whidbey’s five, including five pins by the Red Wolves.

“They had some pretty good kids,” said Falcon head coach Jim Thompson.

Falcon senior Tyler Russell secured the first victory for South Whidbey with a pin in the 138-pound division. Senior Donnie Sutton accepted a forfeit in the 145. Andy Madsen, a 152-pound senior, pinned his opponent in the second period. Kyrell Broyles followed suit and pinned his 160-pound opponent in the first period. Pierce Jackson, a junior in the 285, accepted a forfeit.

Thompson said his wrestlers were plagued with problems of lacking aggressiveness, poor footwork and failing to build a base from which to escape.

South Whidbey canceled its plans to attend a wrestling tournament in Lacey on Saturday in favor of resting its wrestlers ahead of the sub-district tournament in Sedro-Woolley in two weeks.

“You have to be able to get out and get off the bottom if you expect to move on to regionals,” Thompson said. “We’re going to go with a lot of technique this week … Next week, we’re going to hit it real hard.”