A combination of quality opponents and what coach Mike Crebbin termed “a lack of technical execution,” resulted in a 59-10 loss to Everett in a WesCo North wrestling match Thursday.
The undefeated Seagulls dominated nearly every match. Colton Elliot in the 103-pound weight division and Royce Cardwell at 119 were the only winners for Oak Harbor.
“I know our kids should do better,” coach Crebbin said. “We worked on a lot of things this week and we didn’t see any of that manifest itself on the mat. I was a little disappointed there and it’s kind of hard to say anything positive right now.”
Oak Harbor dropped the first 11 bouts in the match.
The biggest surprise came in the 189-pound weight division when Everett’s Jake Ansett handed Tyler Elliot his first loss of the season.
The bout was tied 5-5 with about 20 second remaining, when Ansett worked a 2-point reversal to come away with a 7-5 victory.
At 152 pounds, Miles Hartt dropped a close 3-2 decision to Everett’s Laban Crook.
Overall, the Seagulls won three bouts via pins falls, two more by technical falls and two by forfeits.
In the evening’s 12th bout, Colton Elliott and his opponent, Jack Forest, were tied 2-2 after the first period before the Oak Harbor freshman took charge.
Elliot scored points on an impressive take-down move to hold a 5-3 lead after two periods of action and them came on strong in the final period to win a major decision, 13-5, and score four points for the Wildcats.
“He was taller than me and stuff, so I went out there thinking I had to do my best and wrestle my hardest,” Elliot said. “I didn’t know whether I’d have enough energy, but I did and I pulled it off.”
After forfeiting the 112-pound bout, Cardwell recorded Oak Harbor’s lone pin of the match over Everett’s Dylan Stratis in the final bout of the evening at 119 pounds.
“I tried my hardest to win,” Cardwell said. “I tried to pin him with a leg ride but I didn’t get it, so I just took what I could.”
Crebbin said he thought the Wildcats’ conditioning was still suspect in a lot of cases.
“I told the guys it’s one thing to go on the mat against a technically superior wrestler, but that doesn’t mean you forget everything you’ve worked on. You still have to make an effort trying to get the right position and trying to do the right counters. We’re failing at that,” he said. “Until we correct that, it doesn’t matter whether we’re wrestling Everett or an equal-caliber opponent. If we’re not wrestling in good position, we’re wasting a lot of time.”
The Wildcats’ next home match is Friday against Lake Stevens.
