Things looked bleak for the Inglemoor Vikings through the first 10 matches of their dual wrestling match against the Newport Knights.
Newport built a 29-17 lead, winning six of the first 10 matchups between Class 4A KingCo wrestling teams.
Inglemoor dominated down the stretch, winning four consecutive matches in a come-from-behind 37-29 victory against the Newport on Jan. 15 at Newport High School in Factoria. Ingelmoor 152-pounder Nathan Harshman sealed the win, pinning Newport’s Andrew Coyle in the final match of the night setting off a raucous celebration on the Vikings’ side of the mat. Inglemoor head coach Paul Schulfer wasn’t worried despite his team falling behind by 12 points with just four matches remaining on the board.
“I knew we were in it because we were coming into the strength of our lineup right at the end. We were in a pretty good spot,” Schulfer said.
Vikings’ wrestlers registering victories in the final four matches of the night were David Wang (132), Andy Pham (138), Riley Seward (145) and Harshman (152). Pham and Harshman won with pins and Seward and Wang won by decision. Inglemoor, who has two regular season dual matches on their schedule, are fine tuning their skills in preparation for post-season tournaments.
“The biggest thing at this point is just trying to keep everyone healthy. We’re doing really well and that’s always exciting,” Schulfer said.
Newport head coach Michael Chenoweth was optimistic despite the loss to the Vikings.
“I knew they had some studs right there in the middle (132 through 152) and knew we had a good chance going into that stretch. Our team wrestled really well tonight and that’s what we’re looking for right now. We still have got a lot of wrestling to go,” Chenoweth said. “It’s just nice for us to come out and compete with a pretty tough Inglemoor team. It’s a good boost for us.”
Newport wrestlers earning victories against Ingelmoor with pins were Nick Lounsbery (170), Logan Anderson (195) and Nolan Richardson (285). Humza Talat (160) and David Zobel (113) won by decision and Diego Dwyer (126) won by technical fall.
