Grapplers off to strong start

Published 9:00 am Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Bainbridge splits opening contests against O’Dea and Ingraham.

They may be small in numbers and stature, but the Bainbridge wrestlers will be competitive in every meet and tournament this season.

They lost a close match to O’Dea last Tuesday 43-36, but rebounded to defeat Ingraham 50-24 Friday.

“We’re seeing a lot of aggressiveness, which we’re real happy about,” coach Dan Pippinger said of the squad’s early contests. “With a real young team the knowledge of the intensity level hasn’t quite been there, but now they’re more and more aware of what the intensity level needs to be in order to be successful.”

Last season, the Spartans sent four to State in Brian Robert, Ian Brooks, Eli Narte and Matthew Ritualo.

Anna Lyons participated in the girls invitational tournament.

Narte and Matthew didn’t make it to the second day, but Robert and Brooks placed sixth and eighth, respectively.

Lyons finished first in her division.

They were lost to graduation while Pippinger lost co-head coach Britton Johnson, who decided to retire after 14 years of involvement with the Bainbridge program.

“It just felt like the right time for him to retire,” Pippinger said. “He served the sport on Bainbridge Island for a long time and served the kids for a long time. There’s definitely nothing but blessings for him in appreciation for all he’s done for the sport and the kids on the island.”

Matt Pedersen will step in as the main assistant, while former Bainbridge wrestlers Alonso Valenzuela and Brandon Nall are back as assistant coaches as well.

Narte, a sophomore, and Matthew, a junior co-captain and a district champion at 112 pounds last season, also return to give the team some experience and look to return to Mat Classic.

Other returners include senior co-captain Peter Paskell, juniors Keith Robert, Robert Ferguson and Matt Tetlow and sophomores Ryan Hinkley and James Gaunivinaka.

Narte and Matthew did their part with wins in the first two matches of the season.

Narte won by forefit both times, while Matthew pinned O’Dea’s PJ Pelligrini at the 1:20 mark and defeated Ingraham’s Vihn Nguyen by technical fall.

But there are some newcomers ready to make their mark in freshmen Elliott Marsing, Grey Wilson and Robin Stewart, along with sophomore Stephen Ritualo.

Stewart and Wilson scored pins against Ingraham, while Ritualo won a close 14-11 decision over Ingraham’s Jorge Vasquez and Marsing won by forefit, but pinned his opponent in a exhibition match.

“They all got pins, which is good,” Pippinger said. “The state returners (Matthew and Narte) did what they’re supposed to do, which is dominate.”

One thing the Spartans don’t have is strength in numbers, which was depleted by one when Gaunivinaka had his arm broken by Ingraham’s Truong Nguyen during their match.

He was alert and able to get up and move around, but the arm was broken in two places and the will have to be reset by an orthopedic surgeon.

The Spartans wrestled at Chief Sealth yesterday and will participate in several tournaments over the holiday break.

Their next home match is against Blanchet Jan. 9.