Harry Bloom of the Kadena Panthers uses a fireman's carry to deposit Chris Paul of the Kubasaki Dragons onto the mat during Saturday's 141-pound bout in the dual-meet championship of the 2008 DODDS-Pacific Far East High School Wrestling Tournament. Bloom won by superior decision 2-0 (7-0, 7-0) and the Panthers rallied from a 13-4 deficit to beat the Dragons 34-24 for the fourth Far East Wrestling Tournament team title in school history. (Dave Ornauer / S&S)
Harry Bloom of the Kadena Panthers uses a fireman's carry to deposit Chris Paul of the Kubasaki Dragons onto the mat during Saturday's 141-pound bout in the dual-meet championship of the 2008 DODDS-Pacific Far East High School Wrestling Tournament. Bloom won by superior decision 2-0 (7-0, 7-0) and the Panthers rallied from a 13-4 deficit to beat the Dragons 34-24 for the fourth Far East Wrestling Tournament team title in school history. (Dave Ornauer / S&S)
Karsten Hendrickson of the Kadena Panthers attempts a head-in-arm throw on Lawrence McClain of the Kubasaki Dragons during Saturday's 215-pound bout. McClain decisioned Hendrickson 2-0 (2-1, 3-0). (Dave Ornauer / S&S)
Three-time Far East gold medalist Scott Wood, top, of the Kubasaki Dragons gets the upper hand on Aaron Avila of the Kadena Panthers during Saturday's 115-pound bout. Wood decisioned Avila 2-0 (3-1, 6-0). (Dave Ornauer / S&S)
Three-time Far East champion Jacob Bloom of the Kadena Panthers tries a head-in-arm throw on C.J. Tapang of the Kubasaki Dragons. Bloom pinned Tapang in 1 minute, 12 seconds. (Dave Ornauer / S&S)
John Shoults of the Kadena Panthers tries to lock in a cradle on Bucky Shaw of the Kubasaki Dragons during Saturday's heavyweight bout. Shoults squeaked out a decision 2-0 (2-0, 1-0 overtime clinch). (Dave Ornauer / S&S)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — If there is such a thing as the “heart of the lineup” on a wrestling team, the middle of Kadena’s order hit ’em out of the park seemingly at will on Saturday.
The Panthers’ middle five of Chris Hoshaw, Dylan Bruton, Harry and Jacob Bloom and Cody Cash nailed four pins plus a technical fall, rallying the Panthers from a 13-4 deficit past Kubasaki 34-24 for the dual-meet championship in the DODDS-Pacific Far East Tournament.
Kadena completed its second sweep of the tournament’s team titles in three years. The Panthers won the freestyle crown on Friday by 20 points over Kubasaki.
“To sweep the titles, that’s really special,” Panthers heavyweight John Shoults said.
But unlike Kadena’s convincing Friday triumph — the most lopsided Far East team runaway since 1991 — Saturday’s dual matchup swung like a pendulum the way their regular-season results had.
Kadena won 40-19 on Jan. 17 in an Okinawa Activities Council matchup, while the Dragons replied 33-28 on Feb. 1 in the Rumble on the Rock tournament. Both duals were held at Kubasaki.
“It was back and forth with those guys,” Jacob Bloom said. “It got to the point where our best was needed the most. We came through, every single one of us.”
Three-time Far East champion Scott Wood decisioned Aaron Avila 2-0 at 115 pounds, then Kubasaki’s Josh Bales superior decisioned Severin Riedel 2-0 at 122, putting the Dragons up 13-4.
Then, Kadena’s middle of the lineup took over.
“They’re pretty awesome,” Kubasaki coach Terry Chumley said.
Hoshaw (129) struck first, using a head-in-arm hold to pin Jon Goddard in 1 minute, 51 seconds. Bruton (135) used a front-chest press to nail James McDowell in 37 seconds.
“We just needed pins,” Bruton said. “We came to wrestle. We were confident. We had no doubt we could come back.”
Harry Bloom (141) followed with a superior decision over Chris Paul, then Jacob Bloom (148) secured C.J. Tapang with a head-in-arm at 1:12.
“A great way to end my senior wrestling year,” Jacob Bloom said.
A front cradle by Cash (158) finished off Josh Jones in 1:28. He said losing his weight-class final on Friday for the second straight year lit a fire under him.
“That was high motivation. Second place two years in a row. I kept picturing that. I didn’t want another silver,” Cash said.
His victory capped a 24-point run and gave Kadena a 28-13 lead. The next three Kubasaki wrestlers, Jake Haynes (168), Matt Meno (180) and Lawrence McClain (215) each won, but none scored pins, a key factor in Kadena’s victory, Cash said.
“Everybody did what they had to do. It was everybody,” Cash said.
“We were hoping to get some pins at 168 and above,” Chumley said.
Shoults capped Kadena’s victory by getting a huge boulder off his back.
He lost to Kubasaki’s Bucky Shaw in the Okinawa-American Friendship tournament at Kadena on Jan. 12. He lost to Shaw in the Rumble on the Rock finals. He lost to Shaw in Friday’s freestyle final.
On Saturday, he held off every last head-in-arm and right-shoulder throw attempt by Shaw, scoring two takedowns to win the first period.
The second went to an overtime clinch. Shoults won the coin toss, giving him the right to secure his arms around one of Shaw’s legs to begin overtime. He promptly threw Shaw onto his back for a takedown that capped the match.
“It feels great,” Shoults said.
“That one clinches what we’ve been training for months,” coach Steve Schrock said. “If wrestlers are defined by anything, that shows it. That he went out in style shows how big his heart is.”
Despite the defeat, Chumley said she was pleased with her charges’ effort. “They had heart. We did well. I can’t complain,” she said.
See the meet summaries here.
