Wrestling team honors seniors between dual losses
January 30, 2009
By Ryan Piersol
The Mount Si wrestling team honored its seniors in between a pair of home duals Jan. 29.
Some of those seniors then returned the favor with impressive mat wins.
The Wildcats lost to former league rivals Skyline, 44-34, and Issaquah, 48-19. But senior standouts Ryan Makela and Ryan Ransavage combined to go 3-0 on the night with a fall, a technical fall and a decision victory.
Ryan Ransavage goes for a pin during Mount Si's match with Issaquah.
Six Mount Si seniors in all were honored during their final home matches.
“It’s a small group,” Ransavage said. “There’s six of us, and only two of us have wrestled the entire four years. Ryan (Makela) and I have been through all of the good times and bad times together.”
Senior Michael Nelson also picked up a win for Mount Si by way of forfeit at 285.
After watching Mount Si lose both duals, Makela said the team’s inexperience is showing.
“We just have a really young team and a bunch of new people trying out,” he said. “We should get better next year.”
Mount Si started off in a 12-0 hole against Skyline, but a pair of forfeits and a fall by Cody Botten at 112, helped even the score at 18-18. The Wildcats then got a 9-1 major-decision victory from Andrew Sypher to go ahead.
Another forfeit at 135 and a fall by Makela at 140 kept Mount Si in the lead, 34-27. But the Spartans won the final three matches — two by way of falls and one in a technical fall — to pull out the dual win.
Against Issaquah, the Wildcats led only for a brief period. Josh Mitchell picked up a win by way of fall at 215 to tie the score at 6-6, then Ransavage earned a 5-3 victory at 285 to make it 9-6.
The Eagles, however, won the next four matches to take over. Mount Si wasn’t able to break the string until 130-pounder Ben Larson picked up a 6-3 decision win. By that time, it was 27-12.
Makela added a 21-9 major-decision victory at 140 and the Wildcats’ final win came at 152 with a 10-6 decision victory by Shane Dixon.
“We need to wrestle smart,” Ransavage said of the double-dual. “We have a lot of inexperienced wrestlers out there. There were some true freshman starting tonight, so we should be pretty good in the future.”
Two days earlier, Mount Si fell to league rival Liberty, 48-30.
The Wildcats picked up wins by way of fall from 119-pounder Andrew Sypher, 130-pounder Larson, 145-pounder Connor Deutch and 285-pounder Ransavage, who took down Liberty standout Coleton Langdon in just 1:54. Makela, at 140, also got an impressive 14-10 decision against Wright Noel, while Shane Dixon earned an 11-9 decision win at 152.
Liberty managed the dual win, though, by one forfeit and seven falls. The Patriots earned four straight pins from 160 to 215.
Reach editor Ryan Piersol at editor@snovalleystar.com or 392-6434.
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