SILVERDALE — With its core four reduced to a trio on Saturday with coach Brent Barnes resting Michael Soler, the Lake Stevens wrestling team still sparkled at the 39th annual MatMan Classic at Central Kitsap High School.
Jake Douglas (145 pounds), Trysten Perales (152) and Malachi Lawrence (160) captured individual titles in the last three matches of the tournament to lead the Vikings to a fifth-place finish in the team standings.
Arlington was the only other local school in attendance, and the Eagles sent two to the finals and placed eighth.
“It was a real solid tournament,” Lake Stevens coach Brent Barnes said. “It was great to see Moses Lake again, great to see the peninsula schools and great to see Graham-Kapowsin again. It was our last big varsity tournament before we get to districts, and we didn’t have any major injuries.”
Moses Lake won the tournament with 176 points, followed by Orting (163.5) and Mount Spokane (137.5).
Perales and Douglas both won titles while wrestling up a weight class, decisions Barnes attributed to trying to find the best competition.
Perales met Arlington’s Cooper McAuslan in the 152-pound final, prevailing in a 7-2 decision.
“Trysten just worked really hard, kept the pace really high and got to (McAuslan’s) legs a couple of times,” Barnes said. “He did a good job on the edge of the mat and was really aware of where he was.”
Arlington coach Rick Iversen, who noted McAuslan will drop to 145 for the postseason, said that McAuslan caught the short end of a clash of styles.
“They’re different beasts,” Iversen said. “Cooper wasn’t able to get to Perales, who took it straight to him. It wasn’t much of a match. Perales got after it well.”
Douglas caught Orting’s Ben Gore in a front head lock in the second period of their 145-pound title bout, taking him down for a 3-0 lead that he would protect in a 3-1 victory.
“It was a pretty defensive match without a lot of action, and I think that’s definitely the kind of match Jake likes to wrestle.”
Douglas beat Arlington’s Jeremy Nygard 4-2 in the semifinals in another cagey contest.
“Douglas took him down and from then on it was trying to slide uphill for Jeremy,” Iversen said. “It was a tight match and Jeremy could never really get back in it, even when they were back on their feet. Jeremy wrestled it smart, but Douglas was even smarter. It was a great match.”
Lawrence was on his way toward a 1-0 decision over Enumclaw’s Tanner Turnbow in the 160-pound final, when the Lake Stevens sophomore turned him from the top position and earned a pin at 5:16.
“Malachi is starting to figure it out,” Barnes said. “He’s starting to get his offense back, and hopefully that can be a turning point for us.”
Arlington also sent 126-pounder Gavin Rork to the finals, but he was blanked by Mount Spokane’s Alec Hoover in a 12-0 major decision.
The Eagles were dealt another blow when senior Ruben Crew, who entered the weekend as the state’s top-ranked wrestler at 182 pounds by Washington Wrestling Report, lost his first match of the season.
In the semifinals, Crew had a 7-1 lead on Moses Lake’s Dylan Morris but Iversen said he repeatedly got extended going for a low single and Morris flattened him out and ran around him for takedown.
Crew wound up losing 14-12 in overtime.
“He was initiating the move that beat him,” Iversen said.
The Arlington coach said his team, which only had nine representatives at the tournament due to a rash of injuries and illnesses, wasn’t fazed by its performance.
Two teams the Eagles will be battling with in their quest for a 3A state championship — Mount Spokane and Enumclaw — finished above them on Saturday.
“All in all, we’re pretty happy,” Arlington said. “It was some of the best competition we’ve seen all year.”
Marysville Pilchuck Premier
MARYSVILLE — The Snohomish Panthers, who have picked up considerable steam in the second half of the regular season under first-year coach Andy Aichele, slugged their way to a fourth-place finish on Saturday.
The Panthers had two champions, five finalists and six placers at the 16-team event, led by 170-pounder Wyatt Butler.
The senior, wrestling up from his usual 160 pounds on Saturday, defeated Marysville Pilchuck’s Keith Pablo 11-9 in the final.
Entering the day, Pablo was ranked second in 3A by Washington Wrestling Report and had dominated his opposition to this point. Butler was ranked sixth at 152 pounds.
“Wyatt just battled and wasn’t afraid,” Aichele said of the title bout. “Pablo put him on his back right at the beginning, but he fought his way up and put Pablo on his back.”
In a close match late in the third period, Butler’s inside trip caught Pablo and the Snohomish senior came out on top of the ensuing scramble to pull out the win.
“I think Wyatt’s style fits better with the bigger guys, because he’s not as fast as the guys he’s seen at 152 and 160,” Aichele said.
Mark Currier captured the title at 182 pounds for Snohomish, beating Chris Harper of O’Dea 9-3 in the final.
“The success that Mark and (285-pounder) Wyatt Gardner have had this season has a lot to do with my assistant, Joey Brown, who works with our bigger guys,” Aichele said. “Those guys have improved so much because of him.”
Viking Girls Invitational
PUYALLUP — Four individual champions at the 30-team event at Puyallup High School on Saturday represented Snohomish County.
Lakewood’s Tommie Mosteller took a 5-4 decision over Arlington’s Robin Hernandez to win the 105-pound weight class, and Snohomish’s Joessie Gonzalez pinned the Eagles’ Rachel Sherson in 2:57 to capture the crown at 120.
At 190 pounds, Oak Harbor’s Meredith Bain topped Dreakeanna Adair of Bonney Lake 11-5 to win that weight class, and 235-pounder Jailee Hernandez of Stanwood decked Julia Sylstad of Yelm in 3:27 to top the podium for the Spartans.
Yelm topped the team standings with 194 points. Lakewood was the top local finisher, taking fourth with 89.
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