Eagles grapplers roll over Vikings

Issaquah registers tallies six pins in dual match victory against Inglemoor

By Shaun Scott • January 11, 2016 9:10 pm
Issaquah 126-pound wrestler Stevie Solusod lifts Inglemoor’s Bailey Claudon into the air before taking him down on Jan. 7 at Issaquah High School. Solusod defeated Claudon 21-6 in the match.
Issaquah 126-pound wrestler Stevie Solusod lifts Inglemoor’s Bailey Claudon into the air before taking him down on Jan. 7 at Issaquah High School. Solusod defeated Claudon 21-6 in the match.

Pins were prevalent in the Issaquah Eagles wrestling team’s Class 4A KingCo matchup against the Inglemoor Vikings.

Issaquah tallied six pins en route to a convincing 69-12 victory against Inglemoor on Jan. 7 at Issaquah High School. The Eagles improved their overall record in dual matches to 3-0 with the win. Eagles’ longtime head coach Kirk Hyatt said his squad has their sights set on winning the Class 4A KingCo regular season championship later this month.

“We’re going for KingCo (championship) this year. We missed it by one match last year and we’re going for it this year. It is really important to us,” Hyatt said.

Hyatt was pleased to see Eagles grapplers pick up victories via pin in six of their 12 matches.

“In baseball you hit home-runs and in wrestling you get pins. We’re not messing around out there. We want to pin, pin and pin. That is what we do,” he said.

Eagles’ 195-pounder Chance Gunter pinned his opponent in just 34 seconds in the final match of the night. Gunter, who was an alternate to the Class 4A Mat Classic at the Tacoma Dome last season, said he is a completely different wrestler than he was 12 months ago.

“My previous two years on varsity it was always more of a physical game for me but this year it is more about technique. I’m a senior and I’m more experienced. Now when it comes to tournament time I can be more successful as a wrestler as a whole,” Gunter said.

Gunter’s focus on perfecting his moves on the mat is paying off. Thus far, he has compiled an overall record of 13-6. Hyatt said he’s satisfied with where his team is at this juncture of the season.

The Eagles are undefeated in dual matches and also captured fourth place out of 25 teams at the formidable Battle of the Border Invitational in Blaine on Dec. 11.

“We’re progressing really good. We want to peak at the KingCo (tournament) obviously,” Hyatt said.

Issaquah wrestlers nabbing victories via pins consisted of William Tickman (113), Dakota Kutz (132), Kaleb Solusod (145), Chase Helgeson (170), Dean Pearson (182) and Gunter (195). Eagles’ grapplers capturing wins by decision were Stevie Solusod (126) and Kai Hapke (160). Pavel Hoeffelner (106), Gunnar Starren (138), Brandon Moon (152) and Terry Zaragoza (220) won by forfeit.