Interlake tops Mercer Island for KingCo wrestling crown

By Shaun Scott

Reporter Newspapers

With the outcome of the Class 3A KingCo wrestling championship hanging in the balance, Interlake Saints 220-pound grappler Saul Bobadilla delivered with everything on the line.

The Saints, who trailed the Mercer Island Islanders 32-30, needed a victory in the final match of the night to win the dual and clinch the league title. Bobadilla pinned Mercer Island’s Russell Asmus with just 24 seconds left in the first round, lifting the Saints to a 36-32 win on Jan. 28 at Mercer Island High School. The entire Saints wrestling team mobbed Bobadilla after his dramatic victory clinched the league crown for the Saints’ wrestling program for the first time in 26 years. Interlake finished the regular season with an overall record of 8-1 in dual matches including a 6-0 record in league play.

“All I wanted to do was win. I didn’t want to let my team down. We have been working so hard to get here and I didn’t want all of that work to be for nothing,” Bobadilla said.

Bobadilla admitted he was nervous before the whistle blew for the beginning of his match.

“I had butterflies. I was so scared. I didn’t know what was going to happen. It would have been a bummer to let our team down,” he said.

Interlake head coach Dave Unwin said he was confident Bobadilla would capture a victory in the final match of the night.

“I was feeling pretty good about that because he had beaten that guy before in a match this season,” Unwin said.

Before Bobadilla’s victory, the Islanders had all the momentum. They won five of the previous six matches before the finale. Interlake had a commanding 24-10 lead at one point but saw it evaporate completely when freshman Donnie Howard defeated Saints’ senior Jonathan Palagashvili 2-1, giving Mercer Island a 32-30 lead with one match remaining in the dual.

“Donnie did exceptionally well. Palagashvili is a really talented wrestler,” Mercer Island head coach Creighton Laughary said.

Laughary wasn’t devastated following the defeat against Interlake.

“It stings a little but honestly we didn’t know whether or not we could get to this point (undefeated in KingCo with one match remaining) when the season started, so getting here undefeated and wrestling against Interlake was a real privilege,” Laughary said. “Dave (Unwin) had his guys really well prepared. Their kids stepped up. Hats off to them. They are great competitors.”

The biggest victory of the night may not have been Bobadilla’s signature pin in the match finale. In the 160-pound weight class, Interlake’s Devansh Dwivedy registered an unlikely pin against Mercer Island’s Malachai Morgan with 1:07 left in the third round. Morgan led by a sizable amount of points but Dwivedy caught Morgan in a head-and-arm move to nab the pin. The win gave Interlake a 30-22 lead. If Dwivedy didn’t win that match, the chances of the Saints capturing the league title would had been slim to none.

“That 160-pound match was the KingCo championship right there. He (Dwivedy) got pinned by that Mercer Island kid in 50 seconds a couple of weeks ago. That win was huge for us,” Unwin said. “That was just amazing.”

Unwin, who has been the Saints wrestling coach for the past 13 years, was overjoyed with emotion following the biggest dual match triumph in school history to date.

“I don’t even know what to say. The kids have been working to do the best they can and to do something like this is just crazy good,” Unwin said. “This has been a special year. The guys really gel together as a team really well. They all really care about each other.”

The Saints’ wrestling program has come a long way since Unwin took over the program 13 seasons ago.

“The first year I was coaching we had just eight guys out for the team. It was hard and it was embarrassing. We built up the program a couple of times and have had some really good runs. This run is special for us,” he said.

Interlake grapplers capturing wins by pin against Mercer Island consisted of Abduvoris Anarov (113), Aidan Campana (120), Cole Manchester (138), Dwivedy (160) and Bobadilla (285). Saints wrestlers winning by decision were Beau Wiebe (106) and Kenny Hoang (132). Mercer Island wrestlers winning via pins were Dylan Majewski (285), Jonah Andrews (145) and Finn Childress (152). Mercer Island grapplers winning by decision were Vinny Ricci (126), Connor Hill (170), Brian Wen (182) and Donnie Howard (195).

MI places second at Relentless Tournament

Competing against 12 teams, Mercer Island finished second overall at the Relentless Tournament Friday, Jan. 29 at Chief Sealth High School.

The Islanders had seven wrestlers reach the medalist stand. Freshmen Connor Hill (170) and Donnie Howard (182) each won their weight classes for their first prep tournament wins of the season.