2/17/17
Welcome to the Eli Sports Mat Classic coverage page. Below you will find all classifications and weight classes, results, pictures and stories. Don’t forget our live audio broadcast coverage either, we will have 2 major reports on Day 1 and another update after session 3 on Saturday then we go live with play-by-play of all the Wrestling Championship matches at 2:30. Click here to get to our broadcast page to listen live!
Important Links:
Link to all weight class Brackets
Link to WIAA Tournament Central
4A
106 113 120 126 132 138 145 152 160 170 182 195 220 285 Team
Tahoma took the team Championship scoring 158 points and held Curtis off in the final round. The Vikings made a great run taking second with 145.
Highlights of the 4A included at 132 where Sunnyside’s Josiah Rodriguez, ranked 5th battled 11th ranked John Sowers of Davis for the title that Rodriguez won 5-1. Rodriguez defeated top ranked Nick Whitehead of Tahoma to get in the Championship and Sowers defeated 3rd ranked Geraldo Suarez of KM.
At 138 Puyallup’s Josh Franich was trailing by 4 in the 3rd round of his Championship match to top ranked Mason Eaglin of South Kitsap and Eaglin looked like he was in control of this match when Franich scrambles and surprises Eaglin and pins him for the title.
At 152 Moses Lakes’ Hunter Cruz had to go to OT to win a tight 2-1 victory over Battle Ground’s Izaiah Duran. This after Cruz took down the top ranked Tommy Strassenberg of Union in the Semi-Finals.
182 Mead’s Trevor Senn rolled on the 1st day with 2 pins but had his work cut out for him on day 2 with a 1-point 8-7 win in the Semi-Finals and a 1-point, 5-4 win over top ranked Jackson McKinney of Skyview for the Title.
At 195 Kione Gill of Tahoma put on the most dominating performance of the entire Mat Classic event winning all 4 of his matches via pinfall and pinning all them in the 1st round. His TOTAL time on the mat was 5:18, that’s 4 matches!
And in the big fella division 8th ranked Decatur’s Quinzy Salu surprised many by getting to the Championship match but could not deny 2nd ranked Calhoun Helmberger who pinned Salu late in the 3rd round. Surprisingly this was Helmberger’s only pin of the tournament, saving it for the most important match.
3A
106 113 120 126 132 138 145 152 160 170 182 195 220 285 Team
The 3A race for the team title was the most exciting of all the classifications. The Championship was literally decided in the 220 weight class between Bonney Lake and Kelso. The new format of Mat Classic actually added to the drama of how this all unfolded. It’s not often a 5th place match would be as important as it was for Kelso’s Ricky Victoriano when he faced a familiar foe in Prairie’s Bryan Person.
A Victoriano win would give Kelso a 1-point lead in the Team competition. Victoriano fell behind but with the entire Kelso team urging him on he ground a tough fought 3-1 win over Person for 5th place but more importantly Kelso now led 134-133 for the team State Championship over Bonney Lake and the Panthers had 1 wrestler left to try and secure the team title.
So it all came down to the 220 State Championship Match between BL’s Sam Peterson, a Jr and top ranked in the division. He would face a newcomer in O’Dea Freshman Dustyn Camacho. Camacho advanced with a breath taking 1st round pin of 2nd ranked Taylor Ambrose of Southridge. The Freshman did it in just 32-seconds serving notice he is to be taken seriously. Camacho then had to go to 4 OT’s to defeat Prairie’s Bryan Person in the Semi-Finals setting up his showdown with Peterson.
Peterson cruised into the semi-finals where who was there waiting for him? None other than Kelso’s Ricky Victoriano. Kelso didn’t know it at the time but Victoriano nearly won the team title in this match coming up short losing 5-4. In a weird twist of fate both Victoriano and Person were then blown out in there 1st consolation match dropping both of them into the 5th place match and when their showdown came around the drama was set and Victoriano did not disappoint.
In the new format of Mat Classic all the consolation matches are wrestled just prior to the Championship match so Peterson was watching Victoriano and when he pulled off the win he knew that not only was his own Championship on the line he now carried the load of the entire Bonney Lake team’s hopes of a Championship and he was facing a Freshman on top of it.
Peterson would fall behind in his title match 2-0 but then got down to some real fundamental wrestling with a reversal and a pair of take-downs and in the 3rd round had built a 6-2 lead. Camacho would not give in and not only did Camacho have the O’Dea fans on his side he was suddenly an honorary Kelso Hilanders as the entire Kelso team was rooting him on for the upset win. Camacho would get a late take-down but time ran out and Peterson posted the 6-4 win clinching the 220 crown but more importantly winning the State 3A team title for the Bonney Lake Panthers 137-134.
Helping the Panthers to the team title was Brenden Chaowanapibool who won the 106 title, Jr Brandon Kaylor won his 3rd straight Championship and goes for 4 next year. This year he defeated Blake Haney of Mt Spokane 3-2 for the 113 title. Haney is a sophomore so it would not be surprising to see these 2 face off again next year.
Kelso had 3 in the Championship round but only one winner and it was extra special as Christian Freund won his 1st title for Kelso and for his Head Coach who happens to be his Dad, Bob Freund.
Other highlights include Mason Phillips from Stanwood winning back-to-back titles taking the 145 Championship, at 160 Bethel’s Dante Springsteen finished off his career with a Title after finishing 2nd as a Junior, 3rd as a Sophomore and a participant as a Frosh and JJ Dixon for Lincoln won the 182 title with a late move to get Meadowdale’s Liam Ball.
2A
106 113 120 126 132 138 145 152 160 170 182 195 220 285 Team
Toppenish came in loaded and pulled away for an easy Team Championship and were led with Championships from Diego Nunez at 132, Nunez cruised into the finals with 3 straight pins and then won the Title comfortably 7-0. At 152 one a the larger upsets of the tournament saw 3rd ranked Andy Aguilera defeat Orting’s Ben Gore 5-2. Gore came in to the tournament as a Senior with 2 State Titles and a 3rd place finish but came up short in this one with Aguilera. The Wildcats also had 2 that took 2nd, a 3rd, 5th and 6th place finishers.
Other highlights, at 138 Carlos Lopez of Selah squeaked out a 4-3 OT Championship over WF West’s Damon Thomas. It was heartbreaking for Thomas who is a Senior and had to settle for his 2nd straight runner-up trophy. In one of the more exciting matches of the finals Othello’s Reese Jones beat White River’s Ryan Redford 3-2 with a move late in the match. At 220 5th ranked Saul Magallon pulled off the upset win over the top ranked Blayne Haderman of River Ridge with a 3-1 win.
The 285 contest was between 2 wrestlers who know each other very well and have already met several times this year. WF West’s Hunter Arrendondo got the better of Tumwater’s Cy Hicks for the Regional Championship but there is very little between these to grapplers and to no one’s surprise this one could not be decided in the allotted 6 minutes of regulation and went to OT. In sudden death it looked like Arrendondo was about to hip throw Hicks for a take down and the Championship when Hicks slipped out of the hold and turned the tables on Arrendondo took him down for the 3-1 win and gave Tumwater their lone Championship of the Tournament.
1A
106 113 120 126 132 138 145 152 160 170 182 195 220 285 Team
Granger and Colville went hammer and tongs in this battle for supremacy and Granger got the edge in the end scoring an amazing 198 team points while Colville would have won any other classification team Championship with their 185.5 points but settled for the silver medal.
The story of the 1A tournament and maybe for Mat Classic 29 was Dalton Young of Lakeside 9-Mile Falls who capped off his Senior season with his 4th straight State Title winning the 138 Championship and finishing his High School career undefeated at 170-0. Young, who has committed to Stanford, went out with a dominating tournament pinning his opponent in all 4 matches. He didn’t break a sweat in his 1st match pinning his opponent in just 12-seconds. In the quarters it took him until the 2nd round at the 3:49 mark and was then challenged the most in the Semi-Finals where he finally put the shoulders to the mat late in the 3rd round in 5: 29. In the Championship match he went to the 2nd round with Brent Hodgson of Deer Park pinning him in 2:21. Hodgson pulled a big win over 2nd ranked Tony Williams of Montesano in the quarters. Hodgson was trailing significantly when he turned the tables and surprised Williams with a pin.
The battle for the Championship showed the depth of both Granger and Colville. Granger’s 1st title came at 126 from Chuco Cisneros. Cisneros defeated Abraham Medina of Royal 5-2. Franky Almaguer cruised to the 145 title pulling away in the title match 17-5 over Chelan’s Juan De La Cruz. Juan Zamora added a 3rd title to the Spartans record when he beat topped ranked Jack Dahlgren of Forks 8-6 in the title bout. Granger put the team title away in the 220 round when top ranked Noel Orozco beat 2nd ranked Morgan Yates of Sultan 1-0. Granger ended up with 4 State Champions 1 2nd place but it was the number of other consolation placers that put them over the top with 2 finishing 5th, 6th and 7th and 1 8th place finisher.
Colville got started fast in the Title matches with a win at 120 by Trent Baun. Kaleb Carroll of Castle Rock pushed Baun in the quarters but Baun pulled out a 5-3 win and he went to beat Jaron Gunter of Kiona Benton in the Title match 7-3. TJ Baun put a ton of pressure on Granger with his win at 132 as he beat Granger’s Juan Isiordia in a tight match 7-5. It was TJ’s 2nd state title and finishes on top as a Senior. He also had a 2nd and 3rd during his MC run. That would be all the gold medals for Colville but 1 2nd place, 2 3rd’s, 3 4th place finishes along with a 5th and a 6th made it tight to the very end.
Other Highlights was Forks who had a great tournament finishing 6th a half point behind Montesano and got a State Champion at 106 with Josue Lucas who won his title over Connell’s Jonathan Magana. At 152 Adrian St. Germain had the fastest pin in the Championship round of all the tournaments when he pinned La Center’s Jeffery Mayola in just 23-seconds.
Montesano had 2 State Champs, the 1st being Austin Cain at 160 for back-to-back State Titles. Cain handled Thailer Morrsison of Colville 8-3 for the trophy. In the heavy weight division a strange ending led to a 2nd State Championship for Montesano’s Taylor Rupe. Rupe was in a heated contest with Connell’s Alexander Deines and they were scoreless after 1 round. As the 2nd round began Rupe in the down position was able to scramble out and was going to get an escape when Deines then bull rushed him and plowed into him knocking Rupe to the cement floor where Rupe knocked his head. He suffered a concussion and could not continue and Deines was originally DQ’d but then officials decided to award Rupe an unsportsmanlike conduct point but could not continue and was awarded the win. Somehow Deines was not tossed, we’re not sure what the refs were looking at but they were correct with the original decision and should have booted Deines.
B
106 113 120 126 132 138 145 152 160 170 182 195 220 285 Team
Tonasket had little trouble in winning this team title beating 2nd place Reardan 184.5 to 141. The Tigers finished with Tiger Champions included Devin Walton at 120, Chris Rivera at 126, Garrett Wilson at 132 going to OT to get the win 4-2 over Gabriel Mireles of Mabton. Isaac Gomez finished the Tiger Titles at 195 with a hard fought 4-3 win over Seth Lindsay of Winlock. Lindsay had a 3-2 late when Gomez was able to get a late reversal and held Lindsay from getting the escape to tie the match.
Other Highlights of the B Tourny began at 106 with Rainier’s Curtis Lenz who won the Title with a 4-1 win over Kalama’s Chase Staup. It was a great way for Lenz, a Senior to finish his High School career while Staup is off and running with a 2nd place finish as a Frosh. Lenz is handing off the 106 baton to teammate Tyler Barlass who as a Freshman finished 5th so it just may be Staup and Barlass in 2018.
Kalama did get a Champion at 145 with Jacob Posey’s strong performance capped off with a 8-3 Championship win over Braxton Dowell of Adna.
Ilwaco had a strong tournament and the wrestling program has completed a remarkable turn-around. Coach Kevin McNaulty had just 3 wrestlers when he took over as Head Coach and now his Fishermen finished 3rd scoring 126.6 points. Jack Odneal won the 138 title with a 7-4 win over Reardan’s Caleb Cole. Alec Bell gave Ilwaco their 2nd individual title at 220. Bell defeated Jake Harrington of Liberty Spangle 6-2.
Adna also has had the arrow pointed up with their wrestling program finishing 6th over all and although they didn’t finish anyone on top of the platform they had a strong showing with 2 seconds from Dowell and Matthew Slape at 152. They also had a 3rd place finish and 2 6th place medalists.
The Heavyweight Championship was brutal as top ranked Dalton Yoder from Toledo took on Seth Bridge of North Beach. Bridge was ranked 3rd coming into the match. Although low scoring Yoder was in control when Bridge went to to try and a move and caught Yoder’s knee just at the wrong time. Yoder immediately grabbed his knee and was in serious pain. Bystanders told us they could here a pop. Yoder to his credit tried to continue the match and lasted about a minute longer when he could no longer continue. Bridge was declared the winner by injury default. Let’s be clear it did not appear to be anything but just an unfortunate injury, Bridge was certainly not trying to hurt Yoder.
Girls
100 105 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 145 155 170 190 235 Team
Yelm was crowned Champions of the crowded Girls classification. The Tornados held off Federal Way 97-91 for the big Trophy and did so without the benefit of 1 indivdual Champion. Yelm had strong outings from Phoenix Dubose at 115, Carly Smith 125 and Ariana Zemke 145 all finishing 2nd. The Tornados also scored points with 2 7th place finishes and an 8th placer.
Federal Way hung tight by doing so with a State Champion at 170 Tally Thomas. Thomas finished her Senior season impressively with 4 pins in her 4 wins including a 2nd round pin over Sunnyside’s Aylin Bautista. The Eagles also got a 2nd finish at the 235 class, Mariah Stewart made her way to the finals with 3 pins of her own but then ran into Washougal’s Abby Lees. Lees snapped Stewart’s run with authority pinning Stewart in the 1st round in 90-seconds.
Other highlights included at 113 Hikaru Abe of Skyview who battled to a 4-3 win over North Kitsap’s Holly Beaudoin. At 120 there was controversy as Battle Ground’s Sierra Joner and Puyallup’s Brooklyn Bartelson were locked in a 1-1 tie when Bartelson threw Joner and fell on her from behind as time expired. The ref ruled the takedown was prior to the end of the match and Bartelson was the winner. A twitter video posted by The Columbian’s Micah Rice showed it probably should not have counted and the match should have gone to overtime.
In the 130 class Erin Redford of White River had her arm raised with a clear Championship win 13-6 over Nikki Velsquez of Othello. Redford’s biggest challenge came from Freshman Allison Blaine of Hudson’s Bay. Redford beat her 2-1 in the Semi’s and Blaine went on to take 3rd.
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