Mount Rainier beat Evergreen, 68-14, and, right after that disposal, it was straight to the cleaner for Lindbergh, 68-12, against the defending Seamount League champion Rams. Meanwhile, Foster beat Evergreen, 36-30, and Lindbergh beat the Bulldogs, 46-24, in action between four teams going on two mats at the Rams’ gym Thursday.

And that “power” referred to has nothing to do with just this quad meet powerful performance for the Rams.

“We won the Seamount in 2009 and 2008,” said head coach Frank Brandt, then being asked how long it’s been since they haven’t won. “We’ve won it the last five years.”

Brandt mentioned his captains, William Triquero and Spencer Truong. Truong won both his matches by forfeit on this night  while Triquero won the first against Evergreen by forfeit before dispensing a 17-0 technical fall against his Lindbergh foe. Truong and Triquero are both seniors, both undefeated at 6-0 to start this season.

“They both missed out on state, they were state alternates,” said Brandt. They took fifth place but the top four go on to where all wrestlers want to get by season’s end -- state in mid-February.

“Hopefully, they both get there and get on the podium,” said Brandt, also mentioning Josh Fleming, who was out sick for this meet.

Lindbergh was not a good team depth-wise, but individually they had three guys that made it to state. Two of them won. That is how Lindbergh got most of it’s 12 points.

The Eagles of the Renton Highlands area would have got more points but the Rams’ Khalid Abebe upset his foe for a 13-4 major decision win.

“That Lindbergh guy that Khalid beat was a state placer last year,” said Brandt.

Khalid is only a second year wrestler, too, so that made this win over the Eagles’ state placer all the more impressive.

“I knew I had to give my A game,” said Abebe. “I had to go hard.”

Your teammate, Triquero, beat a state placer.

“That was a good match,” said Triquero.

Assistant coach of the Rams, Ben Colbern, mentioned what he thinks Triquero could do this season.

“I have confidence he is going to win every match but I don’t want to say he is going to win every match,” said Colbern, with Triquero standing right nearby.

Looking at Triquero, Colbern then said, “He is the hardest worker on the team.”

Triquero responded, “Got to go hard.”

Triquero is working hard for himself but for some others too -- his team.

You want to lead your team to...

“I want to lead them to work hard, to do good, to believe in themselves,” said Triquero.

The lead match, or at least the only one that went into overtime after three rounds of fast grappling action that couldn’t decide things, was between Evergreen’s Andrew Parker and Mount Rainier’s Billy Castron in the heavyweight division.

Castron gave up a lot of weight to Parker as he wrestled up a class, or two, but he gave Parker all he could handle. This barnburner was 3-2, Castron, going into the third round and through the third round until the very end seconds when Parker loosed himself from a Castron hold in a desperate move.

“He was ahead, 3-2, and I got an escape in the last round,” said Parker.

He needed that one and it gave him momentum to hold off Castron’s shooting charge in the first overtime, grabbing ahold of Parker’s leg as Parker hopped around trying fanatically to keep from going down for a two-point takedown for Castron.

“Both were playing strategy. Neither wanted to make a mistake and that is how it played out,’ said Evergreen head coach Chris Humphries.

Castron was trying to lift up on Parker’s leg a couple times in the overtime, pushing into Castron, and Parker was pushing back.

“Andrew was weighing down on him,” said Humphries.

And it paid off with a victory, getting a reverse off Castron’s leg hold for two points and then a takedown after that to change that 3-3 lead to 7-4, with Castron getting an escape point in that turn-of-momentum favoring Parker.

“That was a really interesting match,” said Triquero. “Billy did good, though. He was wrestling a guy 40 pounds heavier than him.”

Parker got that escape in the last round to extend this match to OT, but, and it’s a little unfair question but asked nonetheless. If you didn’t get that escape, you wouldn’t have had to go three minutes longer for round four before a fifth round with 30 seconds each wrestler given in the top position.

“Yeah, but it was worth it to win,” said Parker. “Winning it for the team was worth it.”

What did your win show?

“Just show people if you are down in points at the end, you can still come back in the end,” said Parker.

Good cheering from both sides’ fans and wrestlers watching on. One wrestler watching was Evergreen’s Patterson Pata.
He liked that Parker-Castron battle.

“I loved every minute of it,” said Pata. “I just want to wrestle.”

Evergreen had 10 of 14 wrestling weight classes have to forfeit against the Rams, so that hurt, of course. After Parker’s win, it was 24-14 Rams, so that match was fairly close before forfeits from 103 to 145 in a row killed Evergreen’s chances of competing.

“We have a problem with kids getting in enough number of practices,” said Humphries. “But grades are what is really killing us. And this year we have eight guys that wrestled for us last year decide to not turn out for wrestling.”

Against Evergreen, 103-pound wrestler Tony Constantino won by forfeit, as did 112 Kevin Bishop, 119 Nut Suwanchote, 125 Brian Pritchard, 130 Spencer Truong, 135 William Triquero, 140 Alex Pieris, 145 Markus Surrat 152 and 215 Andre Jeffries. Then other matches were Rams wins mostly as Shawn McGlynn won by pin at 5:!7 and Cyle Kraustrunk won at 152 and 171 was Danny Do with a tech fall, 17-2 win. Then, at 189, Maile Tauta won for Evergreen by pin over Conner Spani in the first round.

For the Lindbergh match, 152 Rams wrestler Jake Bame won, 15-0, by tech fall, and Do pinned his man at 53 seconds at 171. Spani pinned his man at 54 seconds and Jeffries won again by forfeit in his class, and Castron picked up and threw down his Lindbergh foe for a 1:07 pin. Constantino won again by forfeit for the Rams at 103, then Abebe got his 13-4 major decision before Truong won by forfeit, Triquero by t-fall, 17-0, and Pieris, by pin at 1:23, and Surrat captured another win by forfeit for the Rams at 145.

Foster was here, too, and the Bulldogs did beat Evergreen, 36-30, but the Wolverines were leading 30-0 on wins from Parker and company before forfeits for the next Wolverine wrestles in succession put them in the loss column.

Some wins against Lindbergh were from Trevor Farris, a freshman for Foster, following in big brother, Troy’s footsteps as Troy Farris went to state last year for the Bulldogs. Also winning in this match was freshman Kody Moormeyer, a minor decision, 18-14, and senior Michael Fertakis, a pin at 3:45.