It may be early in season, but Kentwood wrestlers Ruben Navejas and Cody Quinn already appear in midseason form.
Navejas, a sophomore, and Quinn, a senior, dominated on Saturday in the Border at the Battle in Blaine, bringing home individual titles and helping the Conquerors secure third place in the 27-team tournament.
Blaine won the tournament with 191.5 points followed by Riverside (170) and Kentwood (137).
“We did a little better than I thought (we would),” said Kentwood coach Ken Sroka.
But nobody did better than Navejas and Quinn, both of whom chewed up their respective weight classes with ease and dominance.
Navejas ripped through his respective 103-pound counterparts, collecting four-straight pins – all of which lasted less than two full periods – before working over Squalicum’s Ren Bishop in the finals, 12-1.
Quinn, the second-ranked 140-pounder in the state who competed at 145 on Saturday, was just as impressive. The three-time state placer racked up three pins and a major decision before fending off Chris Rowe of Selah in the finals, 2-0.
“Cody is looking fantastic,” Sroka said. “He’s very confident and is hungry for wins. Out there, he’s in total control.”
Billy Creighton (130) added a fourth-place finish for the Conquerors.
Royally good
Kent-Meridian’s Jesus Valdez was giving up a few pounds on Saturday at the Lake Washington Invitational.
The junior, however, did not give up any wins.
Valdez, one of the premier 103-pounders in the state, bumped up to 112 on Saturday. The results continued to be successful for the Royal, who collected a pair of pins and a major decision en route to securing his weight classification’s title.
Valdez worked over Kamiak’s Marco Price in the finals, 13-0.
“He’s tougher than last year,” K-M coach Todd Owens said of Valdez, who took eighth at state a year ago.
Kent-Meridian held its own in the 17-team, 16-man bracket tournament, taking sixth place with 135 points. Kamiak won the tournament with 208.5 points followed by Bellevue (158.5).
Valdez wasn’t the only Royal to bring home a golden performance. Teammate Nick Hall, at the other end of the wrestling spectrum competing at 285 pounds, showed a little bit of everything in capturing his weight class.
Hall dominated early, collecting two-straight pins in earning a semifinal berth. In the semis, he outlasted No. 1 seed Cody Treddenbarger of Juanita, 6-4.
Hall capped the performance in impressive fashion, pinning Alex Martin of Monroe in the finals in 5:06.
Andrew Smith (140), Nick Lemmon (160) and Thomas Reinhart (189) added third-place finishes for the Royals.
GIRLS BASKETBALL: KL knocks off Auburn
The Kentlake girls basketball team showed plenty of resilience on Saturday night.
Three days after dropping a 39-38 heartbreaker to Jefferson, the Falcons picked up the pieces and used a balanced scoring attack to knock off Auburn, 44-36, in a South Puget Sound League North Division game.
Morganne Comstock delivered a team-high 13 points. It’s the fifth straight game Comstock has reached double figures. Jessica Barnes added nine points for the Falcons, followed by Riley Butler (8), Katie Bubsey (7).
Tied 24-24 heading into the final quarter, the Falcons ripped off a 20-12 run over the final eight minutes to seal the victory.
• ALSO: Kentridge junior Alissa Martin scored a season-high 10 points on Saturday, but it was to no avail in a 73-44 loss to Federal Way. … Auburn Riverside took out its frustrations from last Thursday’s loss to Kentwood on league rival K-M on Saturday. The Ravens doubled up on the Royals, 83-41. Nichole Jackson and Mercedes Wetmore scored 18 apiece for the Ravens. Brianna Shannon, averaging 16.5 points per game, led K-M with 10.
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