PORTLAND — The Edmonds-Woodway wrestling team came away with a pair of individual champions after placing three in the finals as the Rose City Classic wrapped up on Saturday at Westview H.S.
Riley Seward (145 pounds) and Spencer Schultz (195) each took home titles to help the Warriors capture third place in the stacked 25-team field, and Mason McDaniel lost an overtime decision in the 170-pound final.
“I think at the end of the first day, our guys put ourselves to get the finish that they did,” Warriors coach Brian Alfi said. “It was a real team contribution to have 11 kids on the front side of the bracket heading into day two. We had some great individual efforts.”
Seward beat the top three seeds in his weight class — including an 11-4 decision over returning Oregon state finalist David Escobar in his home gym — en route to the champonship.
Schultz defeated Tahoma’s Dagen Kramer 3-1 in overtime to capture the crown at 195 as the Warriors finished in front of a Bears’ squad that beat Lake Stevens in a dual meet on Thursday.
Saturday wasn’t without its struggles for the Warriors, as McDaniel lost a winnable match in the 170-pound final, and 126-pounder Sidat Kanyi finished sixth in what Alfi called the most loaded weight class of the tournament.
“I keep reminding these guys that it’s December, and you can’t take December wins with you into the postseason,” Alfi said. “We picked up a few things that we can take and come back to practice on Monday and keep building toward our end-of-season goals.”
Olympic Duals
BREMERTON — Arlington survived a wild semifinal against South Kitsap, only to suffer its first dual-meet loss of the season against perennial 2A power Toppenish in the championship match on Saturday at the Kitsap Sun Pavilion.
The Wildcats handed the Eagles a 47-16 loss, with only three Arlington wrestlers capturing contested matches.
“It only takes 14 kids, and in that area Toppenish is in, those kids have all been wrestling since they were in pre-school,” Arlington coach Rick Iversen said. “You can be the smallest school in the state, but if you have the best 14 kids, you’re going to win.”
Iversen, whose team did take home the sportsmanship award at the tournament, said his Eagles would respond to their first defeat in the right way.
“Our kids accepted it very well. An undefeated regular season is fantastic and all that, but honestly, I want every kid beaten by the end of the (regular) year,” Iversen said. “It’s OK to get beaten on your way towards a goal.”
Arlington throttled Wenatchee in its first match Saturday and then beat Union 42-33 in the quarterfinals.
In the semis, the Eagles held a 33-3 lead over South Kitsap, but the Wolves rattled off six consecutive victories, including two vital wins via pinfall over Gavin Rork and Boston Jones to complete the comeback.
With the match tied at 33, the officials went to criteria to decide a winner. After some debate, the Eagles were handed the victory by virtue of winning the eighth criterion, scoring first in more bouts than South Kitsap.
“We have some stuff to go back to the drawing board with, and it’s an ongoing process,” Iversen said.
Wilfong Classic
PUYALLUP — Sultan and Marysville Pilchuck captured fourth and fifth place, respectively, and Jackson and Mariner each contributed an individual champion to lead the Snohomish County contingent at the annual tournament hosted by Puyallup H.S.
Sultan, continually proving that they belong among the state’s elite programs regardless of classification, placed six wrestlers in the finals and took home three individual championships on Saturday.
David Woo (113 pounds), Anthony Hall (160) and Tanner Belcher (182) all captured individual championships. Hall beat teammate Kaleb Dennis in the final, and Cory Martinez (170), Morgan Yates (220) also reached title bouts.
The Tomahawks’ Keith Pablo beat Martinez 6-4 to take home the 170-pound title, and Jacksons’ Cole Anderson (132) and Mariner’s Levi Weaver (126) also topped the podium.
Charger Dual Tournament
MARYSVILLE — Buoyed by four pinfalls and a dominant showing in the upper weights, Marysville Getchell defeated Ferndale 58-24 to win its own dual tournament on Saturday.
The Chargers (9-3) won every weight from 152 pounds forward in the championship match, powered by pins from Michael Stewart (160), Shane Reichlin (182) and Micah Hoot (195).
“We are usually one of the better-conditioned teams, but for some reason we started off a little bit slow that way this year,” Marysville Getchell coach Todd Freeman said. “We got back to conditioning this week, with tons of running, and that really showed today. We had a lot of tight matches where our kids came through in the third round with pins.”
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