With their Bellevue opponents fielding only four wrestlers on the roster, Mercer Island had to get creative with its KingCo league dual meet against the Wolverines if every Islander wrestler was to see action.
The Chief Sealth Seahawks were scheduled that same night to host Franklin and Rainier Beach in Seattle. But with Beach only having a few wrestlers available as well, relocating the meet to Mercer Island and pooling all the available wrestlers didn’t seem like a bad idea.
In the end, everyone got a chance for mat time.
Mercer Island turned Thursday’s KingCo dual meet into a double dual, and followed a quick 66-6 win over Bellevue with a non-league match against Chief Sealth. The Islanders fell to the Seahawks 49-27. But more importantly for Mercer Island coach Creighton Laughary, everyone on the young Islander squad had an opportunity to compete.
“I’m glad everyone got a match,” Laughary said. “Everyone got a chance coming off winter break to practice some of the techniques and the refinements that we were working on, so I saw some good things. There’s more to work on still, but I’m happy that we all got matches and experience moving forward.”
Only two of Bellevue’s four wrestlers were available Thursday to compete, awarding Mercer Island 10 rounds of forfeit wins as the Islanders improved to 2-0 in league competition. Mercer Island’s Blake Burton pinned Amy Lui in 1:01 to take the 138 match, while Bellevue’s Nathan Teh pinned Caleb Dornay in 3:03 to win the 182 match.
The Islanders also saw action with individual non-league matches and exhibitions against the Franklin and Rainier Beach wrestlers, before taking on the healthier Chief Sealth squad in their second match.
Mercer Island won five rounds against the Seahawks, three coming by forfeit. Jordan Tillinger (106) pinned Richard Pham in 3:11, and Andrew Motz (120) defeated Gonzalo Cruz in a 13-8 decision.
Coming into Thursday’s meet, Laughary was encouraged by his team’s recent showing at the Cardinal Classic the previous weekend, where the Islanders placed sixth and had four finalists in their respective brackets. Senior Nic Meinzinger-Richards won the 170 weight division and has been solid for the Islanders. And the recent efforts from freshmen lightweights Tillinger, Motz and Eli Pruchno, who all placed at the tournament, gave further reason for optimism.
“I really like what they’re doing,” Laughary said. “They’re wrestling smart and, more importantly, they’re practicing really hard. In wrestling, that’s what’s really important. That’s what pays off.”
MI wrestlers compete at Bainbridge Island Invite
Mercer Island had six wrestlers in action at the Bainbridge Island Invitational Saturday, Jan. 9 at Bainbridge High School. Jordan Tillinger placed fourth in the 106 class, and Eli Pruchno was sixth at 113. Jonah Andrews and Piljin Kwak were fifth and sixth, respectively, at 132, while Russell Asmus was seventh at 195. Masa Kemmostsu also competed at 145.
