A mighty fine day for wrestling

The folks in Enumclaw must get really happy when Central Kitsap High School puts on the Matmen Classic.

The school in southeast King County has turned the annual event into their own and this year was no exception as the Hornets won the team title for the second consecutive year Saturday with 218.5 points, and for their fourth time in five years.

The host Cougars were right in the hunt, finishing second with 213.5 points.

CK captain Chad Eickmeyer did what he set out to do in winning the 135-pound title after a second-place finish in 2002.

Eickmeyer, named the outstanding wrestler of the meet for the 103-140 weight classes, remained unbeaten (16-0) this season by defeating Newport’s Jimmy Akiyama 17-13 in a rematch that will likely reoccur at the state tournament in a month.

North Kitsap’s 160-pound champion Clark Hutchman was named the outstanding wrestler at 145-275 pounds.

CK’s other title winner, 145-pound Mike Frerichs won a controversial match against Tahoma’s Mike Johnson when Johnson was disqualified for biting the CK wrestler on the arm.

The following match was equally electrifying as Enumclaw’s 152-pound Quintin Josie pushed CK’s Josh Martinelli into the bleachers in the second round. Josie also pushed Martinelli nearly into the coaches and out of the gym before coming away with a 10-5 decision.

Olympic’s wrestlers struggled in the early goings and qualified only three for the championship round.

Two of the Trojans did what they had to as 103-pound No. 1 seed Alex Jaime scored a 9-0 major decision on CK’s Austin Templeton (the third win Jaime’s had against his CK counterpart in a week) and 171-pound No. 1 seed Clyde Switzer dismantled Tahoma’s Tom Lorensen with a 14-4 major decision.

The only Trojan not to win his match was 125-pound Ryan Wheeler who lost to South Kitsap’s Dustin Johnson 12-8. The Wolves only had one champion, but had 13 of their 14 wrestlers placed and the team finished third with 192.5 points.

The Trojans’ only No. 1-seed, 275-pound Josh Allbee, struggled and finished in sixth place after a 2-1 decision to Mt. Tahoma’s David Tracy.

The Cougars and the Trojans are back in action at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Olympic to take on Bellarmine Prep and Foss in duals action.

The Cougars also are in the South Kitsap Invitational Saturday where they’ll refamiliarize themselves with the Wolves before the two undefeated teams meet on Jan. 28 back in Port Orchard to determine the Bridge Division champion.

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