Spsl North Wrestling / Kentwood 39, Auburn 21 -- Conquerors Halt 40-Match Streak -- Auburn's Spsl Streak Started In '91

AUBURN - The Kentwood Conquerors finally reached the breaking point.

Tired of being bullied on the wrestling mat by Auburn season after season, the fourth-ranked Conquerors did some sand-kicking of their own last night, pinning a 39-21 loss on the No. 8 Trojans and breaking Auburn's 40-match dual-meet winning streak in the South Puget Sound League's North Division.

"We're not used to getting beat by people all the time," said Kentwood Coach Jack Henderson, who helped guide the Conquerors to three consecutive Class AAA state titles from 1990 through '92. "After a while, it starts bothering you when you lose time after time after time."

No stopping Kentwood

It was the Trojans' first league loss since 1991, when they dropped their season finale to none other than Kentwood. The Conquerors won another state title the following season, but dropped the SPSL match to Auburn, which wound up second at state in Kip Herren's final season as head coach.

Scott Bliss, who took over the following season and has coached the Trojans to state titles in 1994 and '96, was 34-0 in SPSL matches. Auburn managed to eke out a victory over Enumclaw earlier this season, but there was no stopping Kentwood last night.

"We just didn't fight hard," Bliss said. "But the credit should go to the Kentwood kids. They've learned how to fight. They fought us, and we backed down."

Junior Anthony Hamilton clinched the victory with a come-from-behind, 8-7 victory over Jesse Schumsky at 190, putting the match out of reach, 30-18. But Henderson pointed to Kent Zettel's pin at 122 and Jon Miller's 7-4 decision at 158.

"Getting a pin at 22 (122) was just a real treat," Henderson said. "That really helped. Any time you get a pin in a match like this, it's a huge win."

Miller, a senior, recently had ear surgery and only returned to practice a couple of days ago. He led Auburn's Kelly Brame throughout, scoring a key reversal with 28 seconds left to ice the match.

Worton steps up

Normally, Auburn would have either Lance Valiquette or Tom Worton at 158. Both seniors are state vets who switch off at 148 and 158. Bliss put Valiquette at 148, and he pinned sophomore Billy Hetherington in only 52 seconds to pull Auburn into an 18-all tie. But Worton, who weighed in at 149, jumped to 168 to face Kentwood's top wrestler, senior Aron Palady.

Palady (20-1), who broke his hip just before the league tournament last year, wound up winning the most exciting match of the night, 7-5, with a takedown in overtime. That started a four-match Kentwood run, punctuated by Kendall Anderson's third-round pin at 178.

"I knew if I won, Kendall would win at 78 (178)," Palady said.

Bliss was thrilled with Worton's performance, admitting he was just hoping he wouldn't get pinned, giving up nearly 20 pounds.

"That's as big an effort as I've had since I've been here," Bliss said. "I've had state champions, but I can't remember a single effort (better)."

He was especially happy with Ross Foster's 4-2 win over Adam Vanous at 129, too, and thought early on that might be the one Auburn needed to keep the streak going.

"If you would have told us before the match that we would win at 129, go into overtime at 158 and be ahead at 190, it's a win, it's ours," Bliss said. "We lost three or four matches we should not have lost. . . . I'm disappointed with the effort. I'm not disappointed with the loss - if we're going to lose, I'm glad it's to a team like Kentwood. But we've had wins in the past solely on effort."

Palady said the key for Kentwood is depth.

"I think our team is going to do real well against these other teams," he said. "Our team is real solid all the way through the weights. . . . Instead of us watching out for teams, teams will be watching out for us."