Eastlake’s Alyssa Charlston is expected to be a force for the Lady Wolves this year. Contributed

The Eastlake girls basketball crew comes off a 16-8 2007-2008 season. And despite finishing fourth in the KingCo conference with a record of 9-5, the Lady Wolves return eight players from last year’s roster, including three all-KingCo players. 

Junior forward Alyssa Charlston made first team all-KingCo last year and is already getting looks from about a half-dozen Division 1 schools, head coach Scott Sartorius said. 

Captains Ellie Martinez (senior forward) and Hannah Ostic (senior point guard) were named to the second team and honorable mention all-KingCo respectively. 

“She (Martinez) has been a quiet leader for us,” Sartorius said. “She goes out and just does what the team needs.” 

Eastlake looks to Ostic’s leadership on the court to take it to an increasingly tough conference.

“She’s just a gutsy, tough, physical player,” Sartorius said. “She sees the floor so well.”

Starting his third year as head coach, Sartorius said the team is more established this season, after spending the past couple of years rebuilding.

Games to watch: at Eastlake vs. Skyline, 6:30 p.m., Dec. 12; at Eastlake vs. Redmond, 6:30 p.m., Jan. 16; at Eastlake vs. Ballard, 6:30 p.m., Jan. 28.

Eastlake Wrestling

Wolves’ wrestling went 0-11 to finish ninth in KingCo in 2007-2008 with a tiny team of just 13 players. This winter, however, Eastlake returns with a much larger crew of 30 grapplers. 

Head coach Riley Cornet said it’s a young team that looks to improve throughout the year. 

Key wrestlers for Eastlake this season will be Sam Boucher, Shay Fuentes, Trevor McKinnon, Tom Kuehny, Adam Nakanishi and Al Charat.

Matches to watch: Eastlake vs. Skyline at Eastlake, 7:30 p.m., Jan. 20. 

Skyline Girls Basketball

The Lady Spartans’ basketball team moves up to KingCo 4A this year after going 9-7 in conference in Class 3A competition in 2007-2008. They finished with an overall record of 14-11. 

The club starts the season with its third new coach in three years in head coach Greg Bruns. The team will follow the talented senior duo of Lindsey Perry and Carlie Wolken.

As newcomers, sophomores Michelle Bretl and Lindsey Nicholson may add a little depth to the starting line-up of Perry, Wolken, senior Mikayla Neves and juniors Kassia Fortier and Amy Ziegler.

Games to watch: Skyline at Redmond at 6:30 p.m., Jan. 9; Skyline at Issaquah at 6:30 p.m., Jan. 16; Skyline vs. Eastlake at Skyline at 6:30 p.m., Jan. 30. 

Skyline Wrestling

Skyline’s wrestling crew is looking for some strength at its 215-pound and heavyweight spots in the 2008-2009 season. 

Coming off a 5-8 overall performance last year, head coach Gus Kiss said the team has plenty of depth from the 103- to 189-pound class to contend in the new KingCo 4A surroundings after being bumped up from 3A last year. 

The Spartans grapplers, who have four state tournament participants returning to the mats, saw an influx of freshman join the team this year. The 14 ninth-graders will follow the leadership of captains Tannor Steciw (state alternate 2007-2008) and Anthony DeMatteo (third place state 2007-2008, 171 pounds), as well as Nolan Richards (130 pounds) and the lone female wrestler Alexis Wilcher.

Wilcher took second place in the girls’ 145-pound match at last year’s Class 3A state tournament. 

Matches to watch: Dual meet tournament at 9 a.m., Dec. 13 at Skyline High School; Skyline at Eastlake at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 20; Skyline at Issaquah at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 28. 

Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or at chuber@isspress.com.