Lakewood produces two champs

Sultan and Cedarcrest dominated the Cascade Conference subregional tournament at Granite Falls, but a pair of Lakewood wrestlers helped make good for their team.

GRANITE FALLS — Sultan and Cedarcrest dominated the Cascade Conference subregional tournament at Granite Falls, but a pair of Lakewood wrestlers helped make good for their team.

Although Lakewood placed last overall, just behind South Whidbey, the school produced two tournament champions.

At 152 pounds, senior Jason Mueller proved to be something of a surprise to the wrestlers and fans assembled. Mueller drew a match against Sultan senior Colt Kaminski in the weight’s championship round and despite Kaminski’s early 6-2 lead, Mueller battled back. With takedown and near fall and reversal, the Lakewood captain earned a 9-7 win. Fellow captain and senior Billy McKeever also had a win over one of the league’s more highly touted teams, beating Cedarcrest’s Jed Kenney by a 7-1 decision.

“Seeing that we’re a small team with holes, we performed well,” McKeever said.

Three more Cougars will need to come out strong at the regional at Blaine High School Feb. 14 to continue their seasons. With fourth-place finishes, freshman Steven Speer (119), junior Josh McKamey (160) and junior Travis Givler (215) need to win their pigtail match against a Northwest Conference opponent to stay alive in the regional tournament.

— Akaash Saini contributed to this report.

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