Sour senior night | Granite Falls takes down South Whidbey at home

South Whidbey wrestling’s senior power could not overcome Granite Falls on Thursday night in the Falcons’ final home meet of the season.

By Ben Watanabe • January 17, 2014 6:51 pm
Falcon senior Andy Madsen tries to escape Granite Falls senior Tysen Campbell in the 152-pound bout Jan. 16 at South Whidbey High School.
Falcon senior Andy Madsen tries to escape Granite Falls senior Tysen Campbell in the 152-pound bout Jan. 16 at South Whidbey High School.

South Whidbey wrestling’s senior power could not overcome Granite Falls on Thursday night in the Falcons’ final home meet of the season.

Despite putting seven senior wrestlers on the mat, South Whidbey fell short in a 39-30 loss to Granite Falls. Only Falcon senior Kyrell Broyles, in a 160-pound bout, won a contested match. The other four won by Falcons were on forfeits.

It was a disappointing meet for the Falcons, who had hoped to win in only their second and final home meet of the year.

“I was pretty depressed,” said Falcon senior Jose Chavez. “I don’t like losing in front of the home crowd, my family.”

A couple of close matches broke Granite Falls’ way, including the 145, 152 and 182 classes, all of which were stalemates through much of the bout.

Donnie Sutton lost the 145 in a sudden-death extra period. After tying the score at 4-4 in the third period, Sutton had two shots at trying to pin Tiger senior Riley Hansen. But neither scored a point before time expired, leading to a fourth round. Sutton shot for a takedown, but was knocked onto his back for a Granite Falls win, 6-4.

“I didn’t realize the score was 2-2 until we hit the end of the quarter,” Sutton said. “It was first shot wins, I thought I had it.”

The 152-pound match was a stalemate through three periods as well. Madsen held a 3-2 lead until late in the final round, when Tiger senior Tysen Campbell scored a two-point reverse with 14 seconds left, winning 4-3.

Broyles used speed to secure a pin on Tiger junior Riley Reppen in 3:32, giving South Whidbey its first victory of the night.

Chavez, a team captain, stepped to the mat with the team score out of reach for South Whidbey in the 182-pound match. The bout was marred by several stoppages for being out of bounds and for Chavez’s bloody nose. Neither grappler gained a point in the first period and they entered into the second round eager for a shot. It looked like the fight would roll into a third period until Granite Falls senior Michael Poyner rolled Chavez onto his shoulders and scored the pin in 4:00, finalizing Granite Falls’ victory.