Cheney wrestlers capped a successful season by sending 22 individuals on to Mat Classic XXXVII, Feb. 19-20 at the Tacoma Dome. The Blackhawk boys qualified nine for state while the girls are sending 13.
CHENEY HIGH SCHOOL
Boys basketball
Cheney was eighth in the overall GSL standings as of Feb. 11 at 3-6, fifth among 3A classification schools. The Blackhawks finished 10-11 overall after a tight, 56-55 loss to GSL 2A second-place North Central, 10-2, 15-6, on Feb. 10.
The loss knocked Cheney out of the playoffs and gave the Wolfpack the GSL’s No. 5 seed into the District 6 tournament, facing Mid-Columbia Conference (MCC) No. 4 Walla Walla on Feb. 12.
Girls basketball
The Blackhawks wrapped up their season at 0-9 in the GSL, 3-17 overall. Cheney graduates four seniors, Natalie Richards, Sarah Hanson, Isabella Weed and Layla Shepard Barnhart but should return eight players in 2026-2027.
Boys swimming
The Blackhawks placed second at District 6 competition Feb. 6-7 at Richland High School. Cheney scored 350 points, well ahead of third-place Ridgeline High School but well back of meet champions Walla Walla with 534 points.
“Cheney swimmers did great against a very tough, very experienced Walla Wall team,” head coach Jennifer Hochwalt said.
While the Blackhawks finished high in the event standings, because of tight automatic berths for Eastern Washington schools, the only Cheney swimmer qualifying for state at Federal Way, Feb. 20-21 was Carson Bentley. The sophomore won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1 minute, 39/100ths of a second, setting a new meet record by 32/100ths of a second.
Bentley was also third in the 200 individual medley. Tanner Nelson was second in the 200 freestyle and third in 100 butterfly, with Henry Gipple third and Christian Samson fifth in the 50 free.
Oli Gipple was third in both the 100 free and 100 backstroke with Wes Hanely fourth in the 500 free. Cheney relay teams were second in the 200 medley and third in both the 200 and 400 free.
Boys Wrestling
Cheney High wrestlers head to state competition at Mat Classic XXXVII are left to right Cooper French, Chazz Gray, Hank Ghering, Aiden Carr, Kaden Rasmussen, Wyatt Wells, Macade Munro and Mason Bridges. Not pictured is Ethan Guske.
The Blackhawks finished their GSL season at 6-5, fifth overall but third in the 3A classification behind Central Valley and University. Cheney was 6-2 in dual match results over the last half of January, including a 5-1 end to the season with wins over Shadle Park, Walla Walla, Prosser and Southridge at a Jan. 24 round-robin of dual matches against MCC 3A schools and the season finale at home with Ridgeline, Jan. 29.
The Blackhawks also competed Jan. 17 at the Ray Westberg Invitational at Ellensburg High School, placing eighth out of 15 teams. Wyatt Wells emerged as champion in the 215-pound bracket, with Kaden Rasmussen and Ethan Guske placing second at 150 and 157 pounds respectively.
At District 6 competition Feb. 6-7 at the Spokane Convention Center, Cheney placed fourth overall among seven GSL and four MCC 3A schools with 299 points. The top-six from each weight bracket advanced to Mat Classic XXXVII.
While the Blackhawks had no district champions, nine wrestlers advanced to the semifinals and four reached the finals and placed second: Hank Gehring at 132, Rasmussen at 157, Wells at 215 and Macade Munro at 285. Advancing to state through the consolation bracket were Mason Bridges (third, 157), Chazz Gray (third, 285) and Aide Carr (third, 120), Cooper French (fifth, 190) and Guske (sixth, 150).
Stevie Rasmussen was seventh at 170 and will advance to state as an alternate. Hermiston emerged as district 3A champions with 377.5 points, followed by University, with Ridgeline a surprise third.
“We are looking forward to a week off from competition and heading to the state tournament rested and ready to bring home some state medals,” Cheney boys head coach Brian Skaff said.
As of Feb. 11, Wells and French were ranked No. 4 in their respective 3A weight classes by the Washington Wrestling Network (WWN) with Kaden Rasmussen No. 5 and Carr No. 9.
Girls Wrestling
The Blackhawk girls went 6-0 in the GSL 3A classification, with University the only other school to notch more wins at 8-1. Cheney was also fourth in 3A overall in the inaugural State Duals Championships at Kelso High School, Jan. 31, defeating Edmonds-Woodway 53-28 and Sageview 48-33 in the quarterfinals before losing to Kelso in the semifinals and Sedro-Wooley in the match for third.
Head coach Jeremy McGee said Cheney sent 21 girls to District 6 competition Feb. 6-7 at the Spokane Convention Center, advancing 13 to state including three state placers from last year: Jalisca Holmgren, Jennifer Tian and Paige McGee.
Holmgren was district champion at 125 pounds. McGee (135), Addison Lathrop (115), Tian (120), Skylar Buckner (145) and Gigi Ajenifuja (235) all placed second. Fourth-place finishes went to Taygen Turner (155), Jazmin Cuevas (105) and Ren Schaber (190) with Alli Skjothaug (145), Kali Betanzos (170), Juel Turner )115) and Izzy Haugen (235) placing sixth.
Sadie Rockhold placed sixth at 140 to qualify as an alternate.
“Gigi (Ajenifuja), Juel (Turner) an Izzy (Haugen) are first year wrestlers,” McGee added.
As of Feb. 11, the WWN’s 3A individual rankings had Holmgren No. 1 at 125, Tian No. 2 at 120, McGee No. 3 at 135, Schaber No. 7 at 190 and Ajenifuja No. 14 at 235.
Cheney’s Paige McGee (red) looks for an opening against Kennewick’s Ashley Grosebeck in the 135-pound semifinal match at District 6 competition Feb. 7 at the Spokane Convention Center. McGee knocked off Grosebeck with a third-round fall to advance to the finals.
MEDICAL LAKE HIGH SCHOOL
Boys basketball
The Cardinals were second in the Northeast A League standings at 4-2, 13-8 overall and one game back of league-leader Lakeside, 5-0, 14-5. Medical Lake lost to the Eagles on Feb. 10,56-48 in the season finale.
The Cardinals get one more crack at the Eagles, this time in the NEA championship game Feb. 17 at West Valley High School. The winner moves on to the District 5/6 crossover tournament with a shot at state while the loser needs to play one more game against the winner of the Colville-Riverside game for the No. 2 seed to the crossover.
Girls basketball
The Cardinals finished third in the four-team NEA following a 61-20 loss in the regular-season finale Feb. 10 at home against league-leaders Lakeside. At 2-4, 5-14 overall, Medical Lake will face No. 4 seed Riverside (0-6, 0-20) on Feb. 17 at West Valley High School in the District 6 tournament.
A win would put the Cardinals in the game for the district’s second-seed into the District 5/6 crossover tournament against the loser of the Colville-Lakeside game.
Boys swimming
The Cardinals competed in 2A competition at Lions Pool in Yakima, Feb. 6-7, and while no individual or relay team advanced to state, the fact Medical Lake was even there as a team was quite the accomplishment.
“This is impressive because 1) it is the first time since before Covid we have had enough swimmers from the Medical Lake Boys team to have a relay, and 2)With the exception of Mercury Berquist this is the first year for all the other swimmers,” head coach Jennifer Hochwalt wrote in an email. “They started the season not knowing any of the strokes, turns or rules and have improved tremendously.”
Berquist placed the highest among Cardinal swimmers. The sophomore won the B consolation heat, placing seventh overall, in the 500-yard freestyle with fellow sophomore Steven Shotts 10th.
Berquist was 12th in the 200 free while Shotts was 12th in the 100 breaststroke. The 200 free relay team of Shotts, Jaxon Stolp, Bradley Loghan and Berquist finished fifth, as did the 400 free team of Shotts, Loghan, Stolp and Berquist.
