PORT ANGELES — Most coaches, regardless of sport, prefer not to have their team look ahead on the schedule.
But Port Angeles wrestling coach Erik Gonzalez admitted his team was guilty of peeking at its slate of matches in advance of Thursday’s 40-24 victory against Olympic.
The win gives the Roughriders (6-0, 10-0) the inside track at their third Olympic League title in four years.
Last year, the Trojans slipped past Port Angeles in a late-season home meet that decided the league crown.
“They are defending league champs for a reason, but our kids had this one circled on the calendar,” Gonzalez said.
“We live for these kind of nights. We felt we let one slip away last year at their place and they took away our shot at a three-peat from us.”
The Riders took nine of 15 matches from Olympic overall, with six of Port Angeles’ wins coming by pin.
“We expected a tight match, and actually I expected it to be tighter than it was, to be honest,” Gonzalez said.
“But we had some kids that stepped up and still have some kids that need to step up. And it’s wrestling, it can go either way.”
Gonzalez said that one of the kids who stepped up the most was 195-pounder Matt Robbins.
Robbins claimed a dominant 13-1 major decision victory over Geordyn Shinard, who took eighth in state last year.
“Matt Robbins was an animal to thrash and completely destroy that kid,” Gonzalez said.
“That kid lost in the finals last week at the Gut Check, and Matt knew that kid finished ahead of him and he felt like he had something to prove today.”
The night began with a thrilling contest between the Riders’ Brady Anderson and the Trojan’s Jayden Fernandez at 132 pounds.
Anderson tied the match with a last-second escape in the third period. He ultimately outlasted Fernandez through three grueling overtime periods by starting with the top position in the final overtime and not allowing an escape.
“We bumped Brady up [from 126 pounds] because we knew that kid was tough,” Gonzalez said.
“Brady has won three or four of these triple-overtime matches this year, so we knew he was in a good spot in that final overtime.”
Gavin Crain picked up a late pin for Port Angeles with 18 seconds left in his match at 138 pounds for an early 9-0 Riders lead.
Olympic battled back, with wins at 145, 152 and 160 pounds to take a 15-9 lead before Richard Hillstrom stepped up to claim an 11-5 decision at 170 pounds.
“This was only his second varsity match and he came up big for us,” Gonzalez.
Evan Gallacci (195 pounds) picked up a pin 43 seconds into his match to put Port Angeles back on top for good at 18-15.
Robbins wrestled next, and then Kyle La Fritz earned a pin at 3:17 of his 220-pound match.
An upset occurred in the heavyweight match, when Port Angeles’ Roberto Coronel fell 4-2 to Umu Timoteo.
“That’s actually the first time Roberto has lost to him in his high school career, so we have some work to do,” Gonzalez said.
“His finishing was lacking. He had a couple of nice takedowns but he didn’t finish, and Umu didn’t score either, but Roberto put himself on his back, which you really have to avoid as a heavyweight.”
Tyler Gale rebounded from an ankle injury that caused an injury default at the Gut Check Challenge last weekend with a win by pin fall in 1:21.
“Tyler Gale hadn’t practiced all week due to a severely sprained ankle, and we knew he wanted a quick pin to end it and he came through,” Gonzalez said.
“We’re so fortunate to have [Port Angeles team Dr.] Dirk Gouge work with our athletes. He took care of him all week.”
Morgan Mower picked up Port Angeles’ final win by pin just 40 seconds into his 126-pound match.
“This was his first varsity dual meet action so that was fun to watch,” Gonzalez said.
The longtime Riders coach saw plenty of good wrestling from his team, but also room for improvement.
“That’s the nice thing,” Gonzalez said.
“We are wrestling pretty well, but we aren’t anywhere close to peaking yet and I feel confident we will get there.”
The Roughriders celebrated the annual Bud Dire Memorial Night on Thursday by honoring Dire — who founded the Port Angeles program in 1963 and coached the school’s first state placer, Bruce Chamberlin, who took fifth in 1965 — and welcoming back former Riders wrestlers.
Port Angeles visits Bremerton on Tuesday.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsualdailynews.com.
