Cougs, Viks hit the mat

Bothell High head wrestling coach Matt Leonard knows what it takes to build a winning team. After all, the 2002 Bothell graduate is an assistant under legendary football coach Tom Bainter, and he volunteered to take on the task of inheriting a young, untested 3-6 wrestling squad from last year.

With only one senior on the team, Leonard admitted that his team, which he described as “green and inexperienced,” has been making great strides since the first day of practice — once they learned how to.

“I’m teaching them some work ethics and discipline that they didn’t have, and they’re starting to understand what hard work and hard practice looks like,” Leonard said. “We’re getting better, and I’m pleased with the progress.”

Leading the way for the Cougars will be junior team co-captains Saum Hadi and Spencer Cannon, at 125 and 135, respectively.

“Saum is the most talented wrestler on the team, the kids really look up to him,” Leonard said. “(Spencer) may be the hardest kid in the room … and has all the raw potential to be dominant.”

Leonard, in his first year at the helm, simply wants to bring respectability back to the Cougar wrestling program after the recent lean years.

“Our goals for the season are to just establish ourselves as a team again,” Leonard admitted. “We want people to see us on the schedule and know they’re in for a tough match.”

Leonard added that this year will be a great stepping stone to the 2009-10 season, which will feature a fantastic crop of seniors with experience under their belts.

The 4A Kingco Conference was made ultra-competitive this season with the addition of wrestling powerhouse Issaquah (7-1 in league, Kingco Tournament champions), Newport and Skyline, and Leonard thinks that may have been the best possible thing for his young squad.

“The new alignments are fantastic — Kingco (wrestling) has been the whipping boy of everyone in the state for the last 10 years or so,” Leonard said. “I think the unification, bringing Issaquah, Skyline in, the kids are wrestling top-notch opponents. It gives us more recognition as a league, makes us tougher.”

Most importantly, the athletes themselves can feel a resurgence in the program with the new coaching blood, and are ready to put Bothell wrestling back on the radar.

“(Leonard) really brings in a lot of new energy, and we’re really improving a lot, getting better every single day,” Hadi said. “A lot of guys aren’t very experienced, so they look up to me and Spencer Cannon as captains. We constantly have to be giving it our all for the team.”

Corbett, Viks seek continued success

Unlike its crosstown rivals, the Inglemoor High wrestling program has had success in recent years in 4A Kingco, and head coach Kevin Corbett would like nothing more than to continue what he has established during his three previous years at the helm.

“We have a good group of young kids coming in … many of the them have been in the club program for a number of years, so they (have) experience,” Corbett said. “We have a really good group of seniors coming back, so I’m excited.”

Tops for the Vikings will be co-captain Daniel Nelson (152), who dominated the Mariner Holiday tournament back on Dec. 6 with two pins and a tech fall in the finals to win the championship.

“My role is to lead the team, when things are going slow to pick ‘em up, keep encouraging all the guys, make sure they’re staying on task,” said Nelson, who added that he works on moves with his teammates before and after practice. “My goals are definitely to win Kingco … and to win regionals and move on to place real high at state.”

Also returning to captain the Vikings is Mike Lambert, a 189-pounder who has “really worked hard,” according to Corbett, and was on the national team a couple years ago.

The athlete has been turning the most heads, however, is newcomer sophomore Anthony Bratcher, who won his first three wrestling matches and a championship at the Mariner event, beating a state qualifier en route to the title.

“We’re looking for big things from him,” said Corbett of Bratcher.

Corbett admitted that he always starts the season with the end in mind, and wants to move as many of his wrestlers as possible down to the Tacoma Dome for the 4A state meet in March.

“It’s important that we win our league, but really in a sport like wrestling, state is where it’s at,” Corbett said. “Numbers are down around the entire league, but you can never worry about what you don’t have. I’m just happy to have the guys that are here.”