community8 l December 5, 2012 SAMMAMISH REVIEW

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Who turned on the lights?

The Blackwell Elementary School fourth- and fifth-grade choir sings some Christmas, Hanukkah and winter songs in a packed Sammamish City Hall council chambers Nov. 28 for the annual holi-day lighting ceremony.

Emily Taylor, a Blackwell Elementary fourth-grader, sports a lit Rudolph the Reindeer nose as she sings.

Andra Sipos, Anya Bullen (back row from left), Hannah Olynyk and Heather Maletta (front row) wear reindeer ant-lers, Santa cap and snowflake accessories as they sing.

Wyatt Kaely, 1, sits under the Christmas tree as his brother Liam looks up toward the top at all the lights and ornaments.

Rowena McClary, 4, wears bobblehead Rudolph antlers as she makes a luminaria candle bag at the Relay for Life craft table set up by the Sammamish Youth Board and student relay teams from Eastlake High and Inglewood Junior High schools.

Diana Danforth, of Sammamish, holds her son Jacob, 2, as he reaches for a holiday cookie at the refreshment table.

The city of Sammamish Christmas tree is lit after a countdown from 10 to zero in the City Hall lobby.

The Hanukkah menorah blazes to life to mark the festival of lights, which begins at sundown Dec. 8 for the Jewish faith.

Photos by Greg Farrar

By Lillian O’Rorke

Jubilant only begins to describe Skyline and its fans Dec. 1 at the Tacoma Dome, where the Spartans grabbed their fifth state title in eight years. Skyline beat Bellarmine Prep 49-24 to win the 4A football state champi-onship.

“This is the most special…I’ve grown up with all these guys,” said Max Browne, who completed 21 of 28 passing attempts for 384 yards and four touchdowns. “Nic Sblendorio has been my best friend, Andrew Giese, Matt Sinatro, Peyton Pelluer - all those guys. This is what we dreamed of when we were 5 years old. We worked. We worked hard, and it’s awesome to sit here and know that we got the state title our senior year and are going out the right way.”

Within Skyline’s first drive of the night, Browne became the state record holder in career passing. By the time Browne had thrown his last pass as a high school quarterback, he had bro-ken Brian Lindgren’s (DeSales) 14-year-old record of 12,575 pass-ing yards. Browne now holds the record at 12,951.

“That is the type of record you can’t win unless you play a

lot of games and you can’t play a lot of games unless you’ve got a great team. I’ve got to credit my line and my receivers for getting that record. That’s a huge accomplishment for them,” said Browne. “My four years here at Skyline has been more than I ever expected, to suit up for 56 games at Skyline, 14 all four years.”

The Spartan defense also shined in the championship game, consistently shutting down the Bellarmine Prep Lions’ drives and forcing punts. While the Lions had possession of the ball for more than two-thirds of the first quarter, Skyline had possession of the score-board, leading 14-3.

“We knew they were going to try to establish a line of scrimmage, and our kids really owned the line of scrimmage. That was one of our strengths and we really shut them down that way,” said Skyline Coach Mat Taylor. “I feel awesome. This is the very

best. It continues to get better every year.”

Sinatro scored the first touch-down of the night on a 23-yard pass from Browne. The senior

scored again late in the third quarter after Browne shook off a defender to fire the ball at Sinatro for 55-yard touchdown. Earlier in the third, Sinatro intercepted

Bellarmines Prep’s ball for a 48-yard return.

“They prepare us week in and

sports12 l December 5, 2012 SAMMAMISH REVIEW

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By Lillian O’Rorke

Forfeits had Eastlake pinned before its Nov. 29 season opener even started.

On the mat, the Eastlake Wolves out-grappled the Roosevelt Roughriders 30-25 with five pins, all within three minutes each. But once the 24 points-worth of forfeits were added in, the score tipped to 49-30 in Roosevelt’s favor.

Unlike last year, the Wolves have a full roster. However, athletes without the required 12 practices under their belts can-not compete. With four spots vacant, it was up to the remain-ing 10 varsity wrestlers.

It took Ryan Wasserman one minute and five seconds to make the Wolves the first on the board. The Eastlake junior was quick with his takedown and finished the first match of the evening by pinning Roosevelt’s Quillan Robinson.

Next up was senior Eric Harper. The Eastlake captain shot in for the takedown, near-ing Alex Benson’s back closer and closer to the mat for a two-point near fall. Harper let

Benson go and immediately struck for another takedown, this time straddling his oppo-nent for a 1:44 pin.

“I just wanted to keep wres-tling and just make sure I get the win,” said Harper. “I was having trouble turning him at first so I just wanted to make sure I could get up and secure the win.”

A senior at Eastlake this year, Harper returns for his final sea-son as the 2012 KingCo champ and said he hopes to cap it off with the 4A 170-pound state title. Winning the Mat Classic has been Harper’s dream since he started wrestling in second grade. He’s made it to the state tournament twice, where he took sixth both as a sophomore and a junior.

Eastlake’s three other wins against Roosevelt came from pins. At 220, Brandon Kaufman overpowered his opponent in 1:24; Mark Smith scored six points for the Wolves when he pinned his guy in 2:52, and James Jensen marked his first varsity wrestling match with a 2:51 fall.

“I wanted to work hard,” said Jensen. “I’ve got good coaches and good teachers.”

Jensen, a sophomore, is one of the 20 younger athletes on the team, and that’s a good thing. Last year, the Wolves struggled with only 11 wrestlers; this year that number is up to 32. With interest up, said Coach Dexter

Beckstead, the team is turning a corner.

“When I came on board last year, I was the fourth coach in five years, so it kind of washes things out,” he said. “You can’t have any continuity when you

have four coaches in five years.”Beckstead started coaching in

1972 and does not intend to quit anytime soon.

“There is a lot of stuff that we

Eastlake wrestling wins on the mat, loses meet

Photo by Lillia O’RorkeRyan Wasserman takes control of his opponent in the 160-pound match.

See WRESTLE, Page 16

Spartans cap off perfect season as state champs

Photo by Greg FarrarMatt Sinatro, Skyline High School senior wide receiver, stretches the football over the goal line on a 23-yard pass play from quarterback Max Browne, giving the Spartans the lead 90 seconds into the game.

See FOOTBALL, Page 15