Wolves extend dual-match win streak to 131, claim another Narrows League title

For the first time all year, the South Kitsap wrestling team had the opportunity to field its entire lineup. And for the first time all year, the Wolves showed off just what they’re capable of.

With a 129-straight Narrows League dual-match winning streak on the line, the Wolves turned up their intensity and quickly put the notion of that state-record streak coming to end in a hurry, turning a close match into a 52-16 blowout over North Kitsap on senior night at the South gym.

With the Bridge Division title in hand, the Wolves then dispatched Capital 50-20 on Thursday night in Olympia to gain yet another Narrows League title and close out the regular season, upping its state-record league dual-match winning streak to 131.

“We had a pretty good night at the office,” second-year coach Chad Nass said.

Thursday night against Capital, South won seven matches by pin, including wins by Kurtis Fenton, Josiah Kipperberg, Kyle Bamonte, Rodger Nuttall, Javan Minor, Chris Hogan and Brent Chriswell.  

But it was Tuesday’s match against North that had everything rolling.

“They really rose up, I thought,” Nass said. “It’s been a while since we’ve really had a full lineup in, and we had one (Tuesday night). We talked to the kids before the match, and we talked about how they needed to wrestle with passion. And I felt like they did that.”

Did they ever.

North pushed the Wolves from the opening match, winning at 171 pounds to grab a quick lead. And the roars that came from not only the Viking’s bench but from the crowd in general let South know it would not be an easy night.

Both teams juggled their lineups to begin the match and ended up trading pins for a 12-12 tie. But SK’s Matt Foxworthy, who was bumped up from 215 to 275, gave South the big win it needed, pinning Bill Plowman with 45 seconds remaining their match to turn the tide of emotion.

“That was kind of a back-and-forth match where we ended up catching their guy on his back near the end of the third round,” Nass said. “The momentum kept swinging back and forth and Foxworthy got his pin, and then our little guys took over.”

After Foxworthy’s win, the Wolves reeled off four straight wins, three by pin, to take control of the match. After trading off pins in the first four matches, South ended up winning nine of the remaining 10 matches to ensure the Bridge Division title.

“They left it all out on the mat and wrestled as hard as they could,” Nass said. “It was a fun match, but the score wasn’t indicative of just how close some of those matches were.

“All year long, we always stress go for the pin,” Nass said. “It just seemed like that when we had opportunities to get guys on their back, we got a lot of pins.”

Six to be exact, the quickest coming by Josiah Kipperberg, who pinned John Stiffler in just 16 seconds at 119 pounds, all the way up to Foxworthy’s pin of Plowman.

In between, South got pins by Kyle Bamonte, Rodger Nuttall, Quincy Lyman and Brent Chriswell, who kept his season mark perfect by pinning Taylor Bass in just 54 seconds.

But the bottom line was North pushed the Wolves like they haven’t been pushed all year in a dual match, and Nass was glad to see it happen.

“These last couple of tournaments, we haven’t wrestled up to our potential, and that’s because we haven’t had our full lineup in there,” Nass said. “We’ve battled through some injuries and some different things, so it was gratifying for the kids to go out there with a full lineup and do what they did.”

South will now get ready for a run at the state tournament. The Wolves’ junior varsity will go Saturday in a JV qualifier meet, while the bulk of the team will gear up for next weekend’s sub-regional tournament in Bremerton.

The top four placers in each weight class will move on to the regional tournament Feb. 10-11 in Mountain with the top qualifiers advancing to the Mat Classic Feb. 17-18 at the Tacoma Dome.

South Kitsap 52, North Kitsap 16

Held Jan. 24 at South Kitsap

103 — Kurtis Fenton (SK) d. Will Castle (NK) 7-2. 112 — Josiah Kipperberg (SK) p. John Stiffler (NK) :16. 119 — Kyle Bamonte (SK) p. John Younger 3:53. 125 — Rodger Nuttall (SK) p. Lyle Welsh (NK) 1:29. 130 — Matt Grimes (NK) d. Javan Miner (SK) 10-1. 135 — Quincy Lyman (SK) p. Johnny Helsing (NK) 3:23 140 — Jesse Barich (SK) d. Matt Cordell (NK) 6-3. 145 — Chris Hogan (SK) d. Nick Laurion (NK) 9-7. 152 — Bobby Arendsee (SK) d. Nick Miller (NK) 14-4. 160 — Dylan Watkins (SK) d. Anthony Lindfors (NK) 6-0. 171 — Eric Hedin (NK) p. Orry Perez (SK) 1:42. 189 — Brent Chriswell (SK) p. Taylor Bass (NK) :54. 215 — Danny Glushko (NK) p. Ryan Sparber (SK) :58. 275 — Matt Foxworthy (SK) p. Bill Plowman (NK) 5:15.

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