Another Saturday, another wrestling tournament title for Nile C. Kinnick.

The Red Devils won six weight divisions in capturing the Sasebo Invitational Tournament at E.J. King High School, scoring 41 points to second-place Yokota’s 27.

“It went all right,” said coach Gary Wilson after Kinnick’s defending Far East champion Marcus Boehler (108 pounds) led the Red Devils’ gold-medal parade. “Some kids stepped up and did a good job. I was really pleased with the effort.”

Wilson said he noted something right about the team’s practice the night before the tournament. “We had a good practice and it just spilled over into today,” Wilson said.

Other gold medalists for Kinnick were David Piliz (101), Triston Barnet (115), Marlow Gonzales (129), Elijah Gamble (135) and Chris Santos (180). Brothers Dereck and Devon Youngblood (148, 158) each came in second, as did Nick Gibbons at 168.

Third-place Zama American took four golds, including defending Far East champion Michael Spencer (168), voted Outstanding Wrestler. Yokota had one gold medalist and five runners-up.

Meanwhile, after a month hiatus, DODEA Korea wrestling resumed with a tri-meet at Osan American. Seoul American stayed perfect in three-ways this season, but just barely nosing out Daegu American in one of them. “They did a good job,” Osan coach David Hemmer said of Daegu.

The rust, Hemmer said, did show across the board, with the individual bout outcomes much closer as a result. The league was to resume on Jan. 9, but snowfall caused a postponement of a three-way at Daegu.

The snow and the layoff “really slowed things down,” Hemmer said. “Timing and putting everything together on the mat. A lot of bouts could have gone either way, simply because they hadn’t wrestled in 30 days.”

Overtime games rule the day on hardwood

Diminutive at 5-foot-2, Darius Wyche made two giant baskets to help Daegu American’s boys basketball team outlast Yongsan International-Seoul 78-73 in one of three overtime games played Saturday.

Wyche made a three-pointer to tie it 68-68 with a second left in regulation, then hit another three-pointer in the extra session at Warrior Gym.

At Canadian Academy in Kobe, Japan, freshman Tara Long scored 12 points as E.J. King’s girls earned their second victory of the season 39-33 in overtime over Kyoto International University Academy in a Western Japan Athletic Association tournament consolation game.

Saturday’s longest game, at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, saw Te’Asia Snowden score six points and Nakia Rogers four in the second overtime as Zama American outscored Matthew C. Perry 12-0 in the extra session to win 50-38.

“I’m tired. I feel like we played three games,” Trojans assistant coach Parish Jones said.

Point guard Aaliyah Daniels proved key in the second overtime period with her passing and playmaking, head coach Veronica Tipton-Jones said.

“I don’t know how she did it. I was proud. She really picked it up in the second overtime,” Tipton-Jones said.

Elsewhere, Robert D. Edgren won the rubber game of its three meetings with Nile C. Kinnick’s boys team 58-52. The three games were decided by a combined 13 points.

Ashley Hawkins got 13 of her 20 points in the fourth quarter, hitting 5-of-6 from the foul line, as Edgren’s girls pulled away from Kinnick 56-42. “We were in the game until there were 4½ minutes left and then she lit it up. She killed us,” Kinnick coach Charles Boyer said.

John Ayers scored a season-high 35 points as Perry’s boys held off Zama 64-52. Repeatedly going strong to the basket, Ayers got Zama’s Mike Jorgenson and Jonathan Neyland into foul trouble “and that was the difference,” Perry coach Chris Clark said.

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