Falcon wrestlers bury Sultan

"Kelly Foote gets the upper foot on his Sultan opponent in the second round of his Thursday night match.Matt Johnson / staff photoContinuing a winning streak that started at an invitational tournament in Sultan on Jan. 6, the South Whidbey High School wrestling team closed their regular season Thursday night with a fitting triumph over the team that hosted that tournament -- the Sultan Turks.The Falcon grapplers blitzed an ailing Turk squad, winning nine matches to take the North Cascades Conference dual meet 48-16. As they have all season, senior Bruce Hymas and junior Brandon Hern led the way, with Hymas winning his 125-pound match 15-6 and Hern moving up a weight class to 189 pounds on his way to completing a quick pin of his Turk opponent. Both wrestlers have lost only one match during the entire season. Hymas' bout was his first in two weeks after he was forced to sit out practices and meets with an injury. He wrestled a steady match, gaining points through three rounds to win the overwhelming decision.Hern, on the other hand, was able to be a showman in his last home meet of the season. Though he normally wrestles at 171 pounds, he easily overpowered Sultan's Sweum in the 189-pound match, lifting him onto his shoulder early in the match before taking him to the mat for a pin.Also taking impressive wins were Chris Long -- who took only 35 seconds to pin his opponent at 135 pounds -- and sophomore Andy Wills. Wills earned a first round pin against Sultan's Guillo in the 145-pound match.Other winners were 119-pounder Mike Johnson (17-4), 103-pounder Phil Schorr (fall), and 160-pounder Chris Martin.Sophomore Kelly Foote wrestled the heartbreaker match of the meet. He took a 5-4 lead in his 140-pound match in the first round and held the narrow advantage until the closing seconds of the third, when his Turk opponent scored a one-point move. In sudden death overtime, Foote wound up on the wrong end of a takedown and lost the match 7-5.Falcon coach Mike Crebbin said his team has just five days to get ready for next week's North Cascades Conference Championship. The meet will be held at South Whidbey High School next Friday and Saturday.Now it's going to get tough, Crebbin said.Championship wrestling starts at 3 p.m. Friday in Erikson Gymnasium. Saturday's action starts at 11 a.m. Finals start at 7 p.m. "

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