Sports

Viking wrestlers overpower Bears

By JOSH FARLEY Staff Writer OLYMPIA — Despite a pair of forfeits that put it 12 points in the hole before the grapplers even hit the mats, the North Kitsap wrestling team made seven pins and beat the Olympia Bears 44-27 Thursday. “This is very exciting,” said Vikings Coach Jon Cooke. “We were in better shape and we attacked well. It worked out for us.” The win is also Cooke’s and assistant coach Mike Derda’s first for the purple and gold. But more importantly, said Cooke, is the fact North simply needed experience on the mat. “What the (North Kitsap) kids needed was some confidence,” Cooke commented. “They went out tonight and won it with hard work.” The Vikings went down early, after a forfeiture and a loss at the 215-lbs. weight class. But the Vikings bench was fired up after Matt Grimes, wrestling in the 103-lbs. class, pinned Bear Josh Brodie in the third period. After two additional forfeitures, the Vikings went down 24-12. But Tim Beckwith came back with a pin at the 119-lbs. class and Corey Maxwell pinned another Bear in the 135-lbs. class with one second to go in the first period to knot things up at 24 apiece. In the 140-lbs. class, Jerrell Smith put the Vikes up with a pin over Bear Peter Gorgas, and Danny Harris bested his opponent, Bear Jason Honton, with a regular decision 10-5 to give the Vikes three more points in another 140 lbs. match. After Corey Bast made another pin at the 152-lbs. class and Will Wrapp lost only by a regular decision at 160-lbs., a Viking victory was immanent. But Viking Curtis Travelstead, knowing his team had sealed a win, came in for the final match of the evening wanting another pin. “I always think you should try your hardest even when you don’t need to,” said Travelstead, who wrestled in the 171-lbs. class. With two seconds to go in the third, Travelstead put his Bear opponent on his back for another pin — the seventh and final on the night. “We’re very pumped,” Travelstead added. “We’re going to keep up the intensity and conditioning and work on the moves.” The win was hard fought and showed discipline — a discipline formed out of conditioning that assistant coach Derda insists upon. “It shows the fact that although they get mad at my warm-ups,” Derda explained, “Every single (Viking wrestler) came up and said they now understand why we do it. “When they come out (on the mat), they aren’t going to give up,” Derda added. Bears coach Rocky Isley agreed North Kitsap was too tough on the mats in the duration of the match. “NK is in better shape than we are,” Isley said. “We were ahead early, but we just got gassed out there.” Coach Cooke said he believes that now, the team can build on its never-say-die attitude with better technique for the rest of the season. “With the combination of hard work and technique, this will be a great team,” Cooke said. The grapplers will face Lincoln in the team’s first home match of the season at 7 p.m. Dec. 9.

Jacklene Salwei: North’s lone state warrior

POULSBO — As the last remaining North Kitsap fall sports athlete competing this season, you’d think that senior swimmer Jacklene Salwei would feel the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Jon Cooke named new head wrestling coach at North Kitsap

POULSBO — Jon Cooke has looked into the crowds at wrestling matches and seen fans leaning one way or the other — mimicking the action on the mat without realizing it.

Cougars overpower North Kitsap spikers

SILVERDALE — When North Kitsap and Central Kitsap played each other in volleyball for the first time this season Thursday night, both were fine tuning for the upcoming league season.

North Kitsap pins down win over Tides

POULSBO — So far this season, the North Kitsap wrestling team has faced teams that were deeper and teams that were more experienced.

Martial artists bring medals back from Minnesota

POULSBO — Students from Victor Solier’s taekwondo studio recently came back to Poulsbo with fistfuls of medals, which isn’t unusual.

Rose blooms as a runner

POULSBO — Cotah Rose has only been running for two and a half years, but she already sports the résumé of a veteran.

Hutchman joins national-level wrestlers

POULSBO — North Kitsap’s Clark Hutchman will join several of Washington’s best wrestlers for a national tournament in Enid, Okla. this month.

Harney headed to state Hall of Fame

POULSBO — It’s been 44 years since Elgin Baylor played for Seattle University, but he’ll still make time for a Chieftain.

Indianola Field Day set for Sunday

INDIANOLA — The first Indianola Field Day will be held June 9, and those behind the event hope it will be the first in a long series.

Nelson, Freiboth earn Shandera award

POULSBO — The trophy that has carried the names of North Kitsap’s top athlete-scholars now carries those of Brita Nelson and Jacob Freiboth.

Soccer for dummies: one fan’s take on the world’s game

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Pair of Vikings on their way to state

POULSBO — If you ask North Kitsap discus standout Jason Mumford why he’s been successful this year, he may cite his new dedication to weight lifting; he may mention his careful focus on the technique of hurling the discus; or, more likely, he’ll give props to the orange traffic cone. The North Kitsap junior, who will join Viking hurdler Kolby Hoover at the Washington State High School Track Tournament this weekend, found the orange cone sitting atop his 1983 Ford Fairmont one day at school after the car had died.

Vikings plunge into district playoff race

The track team has 11 competitors in districts at Puyallup’s Sparks Stadium, while the tennis team sent three players, one singles player and a doubles team, to competition at the University of Puget Sound and Bellarmine High School. Some athletes were more excited than others to qualify. The 4x200 track team, which ran its fastest time ever at the league tournament in Bremerton, thought it had not qualified for the second day of competition until coach Helen Smith found out in a coaches’ meeting that another team had disqualified.

Questions and answers with Will Fenton

Former Viking takes the hill for the UW Huskies

Vikings qualify 11 for district track meet

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Haupt to become a Wildcat

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Carlsen released by Cubs

One day after striking out the side against the Fort Wayne Wizards and picking up a win for the Lansing Lugnuts, Jeff Carlsen, a former star pitcher at North Kitsap High School and the University of Washington, was released by the Chicago Cubs. If it seems odd for an organization to release a pitcher who had an earned run average under two last year; a pitcher who had been a draft pick the year before after a record-setting career for the Huskies; a pitcher who, the night before, had whiffed a trio of Wizards — well, it seems odd to Jeff Carlsen, too. “They didn’t think my arm would come around fast enough,” Carlsen said. “I didn’t agree, but my opinion didn’t matter in the decision.”

Viking vaulters make a huge splash in Poulsbo

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Hildebrand bounces back from knee injury

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