The freshmen of the Shorewood StormRays sparked the wrestling match with Meadowdale Thursday night

By Clark Norton

Shorewood went on the road Thursday night to to face the Mavericks of Meadowdale High School. It was Senior Night for Meadowdale with parents and fans supporting the nine graduating wrestlers in Meadowdale's varsity line-up. Yet, it was the freshmen of Shorewood who rose up and sparked their team.

It the opening bout of the night Shorewood freshman Sky Klein took to the mat at 120 pounds. Klein was immediately on the defensive, giving up an early takedown and fighting off everything he could while falling behind 6-0 midway through the second period. 

Then, as Klein said, “I’m not sure what I did, but it worked.”  Klein was able to reverse his opponent to his back for a pin with just seconds remaining in the round. It was Klein’s first varsity win of the season and Shorewood grabbed a 6-0 lead in the team score.

Following Klein was another freshman for Shorewood, Masa Taura. Taura also fell behind big, trailing 8-1 early in the second. However, Taura kept going, relentlessly attacking his opponent. As the Meadowdale wrestler began to falter, the StormRay never stopped. Taura took his tired challenger down and punished him for a pin that extended the Shorewood team lead to 12-0.

Coach Derek Norton made the strategic move at 132 pounds to give up a forfeit, and the free six team points, to move up his Senior captain Quincy Laflin to 138 pounds, where Meadowdale was set to receive a forfeit and six team points of their own. Laflin rewarded his coach’s faith in him as he dominated from start to finish, building a large lead before pinning his opponent in the third round. Instead of the six points for each team, Shorewood grew their led to 18-0.

It was all Shorewood through the 145 pound match as StormRay Isaac VanHorn controlled the action for a 14 to 4 victory and a 22-0 team lead. Meadowdale made a brief rally with a win by forfeit and two pins over the next four weight classes to close to 28-18 with four matches to go. 

Shorewood’s only other Senior, RJ Buchheit, stopped the Maverick rally in its tracks at 195 pounds as he used a “Gilbertson,” a feet-to-back cradle utilized by legendary Washington wrestler and current Arlington head coach Johnny Gilbertson, to shock and pin his opponent in the first period. Combined with a pin by Hunter Tibodeau at 220 pounds, Shorewood built an insurmountable team lead before winning by a final team score of 40 to 30.

Shorewood 40 - Meadowdale 30

@ Meadowdale High School

*Match began at 120lbs

106: Double forfeit

113: Himly Burch MD pinned Owen Mulder 0:39

*120: Sky Klein SW pinned Maddox Millikan 3:29

126: Masa Taura SW pinned Miguel Garcia 3:56

132: Double forfeit

138: Quincy Laflin SW pinned Skylar Rivera 5:29

145: Isaac VanHorn SW maj. dec. Cy Deflets 14-4

152: Daniel Sok MD win by forfeit

160: Henry Gates MD pinned Ahmed Abdeen 2:39

170: Alberto Solano SW pinned Abi Hernandez 2:45

182: Saul Hernandez MD pinned Nathaniel Hernandez 0:53

195: RJ Buchheit SW pinned Bolar Sodnombayar 1:05

220: Hunter Tibodeau SW pinned Joseph Williams 1:51

285: Aiden Falin MD pinned Milan Johnson 1:46

Shorewood Record: 7-3 Overall, 3-0 Wesco 2A/3A