The Issaquah Press
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SPORTS
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Wednesday November 28, 2012
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BY GREG FARRAR
Andi Scarcello, Maria Volodkevich, Kristaley Umezawa and Stephanie Muñoz (from left) enjoy their moment on the podium as the Skyline High School 200-yard medley relay team celebrates their state 4A championship title Nov. 10 in Federal Way.
BY GREG FARRAR
Nic Sblendorio, Skyline High School senior wide receiver, is finally taken down by Camas junior defensive back Jorden Payne after making a long pass reception in the second quarter Nov. 23 at the Tacoma Dome.
ONE AND DONE Spartans are one win away from another state title
By John Leggett Ip-sports@isspress.com According to the book of Revelations in the Bible, 666 is the number of the beast. That is also the number of points Skyline High School’s relentless gridiron juggernaut has scored on its unsuspecting prey in the 13 contests it has engaged in during the 2012 campaign thus far. Perhaps Bellarmine Prep, a religious school out of the Tacoma area, which the Spartans will lock horns with at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1 in the WIAA
4A state championship in the Tacoma Dome, should graciously accept this as an omen of things to come. Maybe Skyline will show compassion. When the Spartans tangled with the Camas Papermakers in the semifinal round of the WIAA’s Gridiron Classic at the Tacoma Dome Nov. 24, Skyline was the scissors to Camas’ paper, though. The Spartans started slow, at one point in the first quarter falling behind, 14-0. Eventually, the Spartan swords were able to cut through the Papermakers like a hot knife through butter, and douse out the furious flame of the blazing 12-0 contingent from Vancouver, 51-28. As the highly touted skirmish began to un-
return and pinned Camas back on its own 2-yard line. After Camas understandably went the conservative route, sending its runravel before enormous ning back between the representation from both tackles for a minimal gain schools, Papermaker folin treacherous territory lowers thought they must juxtaposed to its own goal have been dreaming, as line, on the very next play, only three minutes into the Papermakers surprised the initial stanza, their everyone in the buildbeloved Camas crew had ing, by going for all the already notched seven marbles. points against a vaunted Trying to buy time in Skyline defense that had the pocket in the midst of allowed well under 200 a fierce Skyline pass rush, points in its previous dozen outings, or an aver- talented Papermaker quarage of 18 points per game terback Reilly Hennessey scrambled around for as defensively. long as he dared, and then After the ensuing hurled the pigskin as far kick-off, Skyline could as he possibly could. The manage very little offensively against a seemingly ball found the outstretched stingy Camas D, but on the arms of Hennessey’s receiver Zach Eagle, in fourth down of its second midstride 50 yards away fruitless drive, Skyline and streaking for pay dirt. senior Sean McDonald, After Camas kicker who does both the kicking and the punting for SHS, booted a skyscraping See FOOTBALL, Page B5 punt that didn’t allow any
Eight-time swim champ strives to serve country By Lillian O’Rorke ltucker@ sammamishreview.com Maria Volodkevich has always been a team player. It was teammates who motivated her, at age 6, to dive headfirst into competitive swimming. Seven of her eight state titles were for team relay events, and it’s the aspiration of being a part of something greater than herself that motivates the Skyline High School senior to pursue a military career. “I prefer winning in a team atmosphere,” Volodkevich said. “I’d rather come out of the pool winning with three other girls because that is more exciting than winning by yourself. It’s all of our work coming together to pay off instead of just one person.” It was the group of girls that she started swimming with as a child, she said, that kept her in the sport. And looking back over
her nearly 12-year career in the pool, that’s a good thing. Volodkevich was a freshman when she won the 2009 Washington 4A Swimming State Championship in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1 minute, 4.25 seconds. For the next four years, that would be her only individual state title. She went on to swim as a member of seven state championship relay teams, including the 400 freestyle relay in 2009 through 2011, the 200 freestyle relay in 2009 and the 200 medley relay teams in 2010 through 2012. Volodkevich also holds Skyline’s school record for the 100 breaststroke, 200 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay. This year’s state swim meet marked the end of her high school swimming See SWIMMER, Page B5
2012 wrestling preview Patriots adjust to home away from home By Christina Corrales-Toy newcastle@isspress.com The uniform will say Liberty, but for the 20122013 wrestling season, the Patriot wrestlers will have to call Maywood Middle School home due to construction going on at Liberty High School. It’s been an adjustment for the squad, Liberty coach Manny Brown said. The team practices at Maywood but must wait to use the wrestling mats until the middle school team is done. “Since Liberty is in construction mode, we will have all of our home matches over at Maywood Middle School,” he said. “It’s worked out well for us, but we still miss being home at Liberty High School.” Despite the inconvenience, Brown said the team is excited and eager to build upon its fourthplace finish at last year’s KingCo 3A Conference championships. “I’m hoping to end up in the top three in KingCo,” he said. “Mercer Island is going to be pretty tough this year and so is Mount Si. So, hopefully we are up there competing with them.” Last year, the team sent two wrestlers to state, where Hamilton Noel placed sixth in the 160-pound division and
Skyline struggles to fill top of roster By Lillian O’Rorke ltucker@ sammamishreview.com
BY GREG FARRAR
Joanna Moreira, Liberty High School freshman (top) wrestles Garfield junior Amanda Triandafilou in the 132-pound women’s match in an exhibition match last January at Issaquah High School. Joanna Moreira acquired valuable experience as a freshman in her first state tournament appearance. Noel has since graduated, but Moreira is back for her sophomore campaign and ready to improve on last year’s performance, Brown said. “She’s ranked about sixth or seventh this year in the state,” he said. “She’s working hard during the week in practice.” Moreira became the first female wrestler in Liberty High School history last year. “We’ve got to really work on getting her matches against other females, which is kind of difficult to do,” Brown said. Noel will be a tough act to follow, after several
strong finishes at the state tournament, but Brown said he expects captains Nate Sjoholm and Luke Oman to play key roles for the team. The Patriots were a young team last year, but the expectation is that last year’s experience bodes well for the future. “We’ve got some sophomores that were with us as freshman last year that are really coming along,” Brown said. In particular, Brown said he is excited to see how sophomores Jimmy Andrus and Conner Small improve upon their freshman seasons. “We’ve got about 28 people on the team and we’ve been working really hard,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to the season.”
With 32 athletes already signed up and several returning state qualifiers, the Skyline High School wrestling team is hopeful as it continues to hunt for a heavyweight competitor to complete the lineup. “We are strongly optimistic. We have a good bunch of returning young men and we have some good athletes that are turning out,” coach Gus Kiss said. The Skyline Spartans finished 7-3 last year in KingCo dual meets and qualified four wrestlers for the State Mat Classic, including Kara Alden. The team’s only female went on to become the team’s top finisher after taking sixth place in the 145-pound girls division. She returns this year as a junior. The Spartans may be struggling to fill the top of their roster, but there is no shortage of See SKYLINE, Page B5
BY GREG FARRAR
Jonathan Norris, Issaquah High School junior, wrestles his opponent in the 285-pound class on the way to winning with a pin, during the Eagles’ match against Woodinville last January.
Issaquah sees return of 17 lettermen By John Leggett Ip-sports@isspress.com As another Issaquah High School wrestling campaign gets under way, there can be little doubt that if any group of mat men has a head start on the rest of the conference, it would have to be the guys in the purple-andgold grappling gear. The Eagles began the season with 32 young men vying for starting spots in the varsity lineup, 17 of which are returning lettermen. The Eagles swing
back into wrestling filled with confidence, after forging a 9-1 league mark in 2011-12, as well as wrapping up the KingCo 4A title and taking a half-dozen wrestlers to state a year ago. One of the six wrestlers representing the IHS banner at the state tourney was 285-pound heavyweight Jonathan Norris, who took sixth in state as a junior. Eagle wrestling coach Kirk Hyatt said Norris See ISSAQUAH, Page B5