Spartans snag two No. 1 spots at Island Invite

Whether or not you believe in the concept of home field advantage in the sport of wrestling, the Spartans clearly had something special going at last weekend’s tournament held on their home turf. Bainbridge claimed sixth place overall with a total score of 108.5 at the annual Island Invitational held last Saturday at Bainbridge High School.

By Luciano Marano • January 19, 2015 1:46 pm

Whether or not you believe in the concept of home field advantage in the sport of wrestling, the Spartans clearly had something special going at last weekend’s tournament held on their home turf.

Bainbridge claimed sixth place overall with a total score of 108.5 at the annual Island Invitational held last Saturday at Bainbridge High School.

The top-ranked participant was Marysville Getchell High (151), followed by Klahowya (140) and North Mason (138).

In all, 12 schools made the trek to the island, including Mercer Island, Franklin Pierce, Interlake, Sequim, Kingston, Mountlake Terrace, North Kitsap, Franklin and Columbia River.

Seven Bainbridge wrestlers claimed top 10 finishing spots in their respective weight classes, two of which were named champions.

BHS grapplers Liam Topham and Jack Miller both claimed first-place spots in the 160- and 145-pound brackets, respectively.

Miller sailed through a bye in the first round, then pinned Sequim’s Travis Baker in 3:10 for his first win of the event.

Then, Miller shut down Mercer Island’s Trevor Gullstad in a 10-5 decision win and advanced to the championship match against North Kitsap’s Nikitta Weston.

The visitor went the distance, but Miller ultimately won the bracket with a 5-3 decision.

Topham also got through the first round with a bye before getting down to work.

The 160-pound Spartan won an epic 12-2 decision match over Mountlake Terrace’s Kevin Massey before moving on to make short work out of Mercer Island’s Meinzinger Richards in another lopsided decision victory, this time ending the contest up, 7-1.

In the championship match, Topham pinned Franklin Pierce’s John Tietz in 3:33 to claim the crown.

BHS heavyweight Joaquin Gurza and fellow Spartan Jonathan Gallivan each claimed a second-place finish in the 170- and 126-pound brackets, respectively.

The smaller Topham grappler on the squad, Cade, was ranked fourth in the 120-pound division, and Koa Goff claimed the sixth-place spot for Bainbridge in 113-pound bracket.

In the sport of wrestling, Spartan Coach Dan Pippinger explained, it is the tournaments throughout the season more so even than the matches that show him how the team is progressing.

“The tournament was a great success this year,” Pippinger said. “We had a full 12 teams this year which probably helped with the attendance. As a team, I was very happy with our ability to finish in the top half of the tournament. We only had seven varsity wrestlers competing of the 14 weights and of the seven, four were in the finals.”

“That’s a pretty good ratio and shows that guys who really commit to doing things right in our program can make themselves successful,” he added.

Several Spartans gave standout performances at the tournament, Pippinger said, making it difficult to pick a best match of the day.

“Liam Topham continues to show great progress in his wrestling, he just continues to move and create opportunities to score,” the coach said. “Jonathan Gallivan lost a close one in the finals. Unfortunately, he gave up some back points when he was thrown in the first round, but he really dominated the rest of the match and nearly came back to win it.”

“Jack Miller won a thriller in overtime with a deep single leg and a nice finish,” Pippinger added.

2015 Island Invitational Team Scores

First: MARYSVILLE GETCHELL, 151

Second: KLAHOWYA, 140

Third: NORTH MASON, 138

Fourth: FRANKLIN PIERCE, 134.5

Fifth: MERCER ISLAND, 109.5

Sixth: BAINBRIDGE, 108.5

Seventh: INTERLAKE, 106.5

Eighth: SEQUIM, 103.5

Ninth: KINGSTON, 102

10th: MOUNTLAKE TERRACE, 93