Thomas Jefferson won nine of the 14 weight classes to stave off the challenge of visiting Federal Way, 48-29, Wednesday.

"We knew it would be a close match," said Eagles wrestling coach Beckett Cordes. "We needed a few matches to go our way and didn't get things to do that."

It's true that things were close. In fact the Eagles out-pinned the Raiders, 5-4. So that obviously was not the difference in the Raiders' winning by 19 points.

What was?

Close matches that the Raiders took, just like Cordes said. Take out the Raiders' getting 12 points for two forfeit wins and the Eagles one, and it came down to three wrestles that separated these two rivals.

The first difference was TJ 152-pound sophomore Scott Van Eaton. He gave his Raider team five points for his 13-2 technical fall victory. That's a total of the six extra forfeit points the Raiders got plus these five, so how did the final points come?

A great match took place between 189 pound wrestlers Zach Roth and Jonathon Detzler.

This match was a defensive battle, with both wrestlers grappling like crabs fighting.

The start favored Roth getting a takedown early on in the first round, but later in the match in round three Roth appeared to be pretty tired. He had his hands on his hips after a momentary pause for breaking restarting stances in the third round and Roth had even one of his own fans yelling, "You sure look tired, man."

He did look it and was taken down in round three's last minute by Detzler to tie things up, 2-2. Then round three ended and that meant sudden death, and Roth wasted little time --18 seconds -- to get it done.

"Oh yeah, I was really tired," said Roth. "I had to get that takedown."

And he got it. That was the coup de grace for the Raiders as they were up, 42-23, and there was no way the Eagles could win even with the two last pins of the night.

Tomson Lee of the Eagles did pin his man in 48 seconds in the 215 class. But the last wrestle of the night belonged to the Raiders' Stuart Roth, who pinned his foe in a scant 33 seconds, the fastest of the four Raider pins.

It was only below the Eagles' Tim Givens in 31 seconds. Givens, notably, has started off the season best for his team, posting a 6-1 record as a senior at the 125-pound class. Roth is the only wrestler with state experience. He did not go as a junior but did as a sophomore.

"I lost to the eventual guy that took third place," said Roth, who sports a 6-1 record this year. Who did he lose to?

"A Curtis wrestler, 5-0." Roth seemed to say that with a yearning to do better. And in fact he will get a chance to do better against him. "I will see him at the Berzerker Tournament Dec. 28."

Speaking of state again for Roth...

"I lost by three points and four points and I lost to the eventual guy that took third place," said Roth, remembering that experience well.

And, well, how about a goal this time around?

"I want to be top four at state," he said.

He's off to a good start and so are some other wrestlers for the Raiders like sophomore Chris Nishimura in 103.

"He should do well in league," said Raiders coach Jess Workman, who is in his fourth year. Down the list of good Raider wrestlers would be Zach Yeaple, a senior who has a 4-1 record.

"State potential," said Workman.

Two guys for the Raiders wrestled for the first time and they have that state stuff potentially, too.

"Diontea Nellams and Cody Ogdon wrestled for their first times tonight," said Workman after the Eagles' match. "I expect good things from both of them."

Roth has already had expectations met of his coach, Stuart, who said, "He's a great coach. He taught me everything I know about wrestling since I began wrestling as a freshman."

How did those three wrestlers do against the Eagles? They all got pins - Nellams in 1:49, Ogdon in 1:35 and Yeaple in 3:33.

The Eagles' other pins came from Nick Faber in 1:43 and Tomon Lee in 48 seconds and Hung Nguyen in 1:57. In that one his foe, freshman Kyle McIntosh, was ahead by a few points before he got caught.

"He's learning," said Workman. "He needed to get moving on the bottom, he chose bottom (position) and got pinned. He will get there. With his work ethic, he will get there."

Another young Raiders wrestler is frosh Jesse Hagberg, who Workman says, "goes and goes non-stop. He's ready to go no matter who he faces."