“POULSBO – The fans attending North Kitsap’s wrestling match with Olympic High school on Thursday night had every right to expect a blowout. The last time the Vikings met the Trojans, Olympic had dropped more than 50 points on the Vikes. And on Thursday night, North forfeited three matches, spotting the Trojans eighteen points. But after the Trojans piled up team points in the first few matches, the Vikings dominated the heavier weight classes and lost the match by only two points, 38-36. At the end of the night, when Nate Carter’s match couldn’t have earned a win for the Vikings, the fans cheered as if it could. The night did not begin with such cheers for NK. The team forfeited matches in the 103, 112 and 130-lb. weight classes, having no wrestlers available to fill those spots. The first match to actually pit two wrestlers against each other happened in the 119-lb. weight class, when Jordan Anderson of North Kitsap met Olympic’s Ryan Wheeler. Wheeler got the first points of the match (two, for a takedown), but it was Anderson that ended up with the win, claiming a 6-4 decision over Wheeler. The next match pitted Olympic’s John Brown against North’s Tyler Lofall. This time Olympic came away with the win when Brown worked his way to a 17-2 technical fall over Lofall. After a forfeit and a win, Olympic held a seemingly insurmountable 23-3 lead in team points. But Clark Hutchman faced Mitch Urrutia in the 140-lb. weight class, and that’s when things started to turn around for North Kitsap. Both wrestlers traded points through the first period, but a nearfall gave Hutchman a 5-3 lead as the first buzzer sounded. Hutchman extended the lead in the second, with a takedown adding two more points to his lead. And he held on to the third, gaining a reversal and an escape to garner a 10-5 win over Urrutia. The next match, at the 145-lb. weight class, saw the most unlikely pin of the night. Olympic’s Matt Hansen dominated North’s Joe Vierra, racking up five points to Vierra’s two until Hansen picked Vierra up and both dropped to the mat. Hansen flipped over, and Vierra found himself on top of the Trojan wrestler. He cradled his arms around Hansen and held on until Hansen was counted out – gaining a pin for Vierra and six team points for North. Vierra later said, I can’t really describe it; it was an off-the-cuff move. Olympic gained six points back when Shane Villanueva pinned Jeremy Stevens. The Trojans added even more points when North’s Leo Pendergraft was pinned by Luke Switzer. But North came back. Leif Olson pinned his opponent. So did Jarod Jennings. So did Jon Standley. And so did Nate Carter, to end the evening for North. Olympic ended up with the win, 38-36. But North coach Larry Maguire was pleased by the effort and intensity his team showed. I’m very, very pleased with the effort from everyone tonight, Maguire said. Our big kids came up for us tonight, and that’s great. The forfeits are what ultimately hurt the team, Maguire said. The forfeits really kill us, teamwise, he said. When you lose by two and give up 18, that’s tough. But Maguire was happy with what he saw on the mats. Maybe we’re coming alive, he said. “