PREP WRESTLING: Lake Stevens starts district short 1 rated wrestler

Published 11:55 pm Friday, February 5, 2010

MARYSVILLE — In its quest for a fourth straight state team championship, the Lake Stevens High School wrestling team won’t have one of its top athletes.

Josh Villani, a Lake Stevens junior ranked No. 2 in the Class 4A 152-pound weight division according to WashingtonWrestlingReport.com, was not part of the 4A District 1 wrestling tournament which began Friday at Marysville-Pilchuck High. Villani is out because of a violation of the Lake Stevens School District year-round athletic code, Lake Stevens wrestler Steven Walkley said.

The length of Villani’s suspension, stemming from the most recent of at least two violations, prevented Villani from competing in the two-day district tournament, the first step in the postseason. The top eight individual finishers in each of the 14 weight divisions qualify for regionals Feb. 12-13 in Auburn, where wrestlers will try to qualify for the Mat Classic state championships (Feb. 19-20 at the Tacoma Dome).

But Villani’s once-promising season is over.

“For him personally, it’s unfortunate. There’s no two ways about it,” Lake Stevens head coach Brent Barnes said. “It’s unfortunate that he doesn’t get to experience this.”

Barnes did not give specifics of Villani’s violation.

Ranked No. 1 in 4A ahead of University (Spokane) and Tahoma, Lake Stevens is still aiming for another state team title.

“We have the same goals,” Barnes said, “and we’ll make the best out of the situation.”

“We’re supposed to be teaching life lessons,” added Barnes, “and sometimes things happen that you don’t want to happen and you’ve got to make the best of it, and that’s what we’re going to do and that’s what Josh Villani is going to do.”

On the bright side for Lake Stevens, two of its other highly ranked wrestlers who were recently out of the lineup returned for districts. Senior Josh Heinzer (112 pounds), a two-time individual state champ, and Walkley (135 pounds) were suspended along with Villani last month, also for an athletic-code violation, Heinzer said.

In 4A, Heinzer and Walkley are both ranked No. 1 in their respective weight divisions.

Barnes knew more than a week ago that Heinzer would be eligible for the postseason but the coach said he didn’t learn about Walkley’s return until Wednesday during a phone call with Lake Stevens School District Superintendent David Burgess.

“It’s nice to have them as part of the team and involved in something like this,” Barnes said of Heinzer and Walkley, who before Friday had not competed since Jan. 11.

Walkley’s appeal of his suspension was granted on Wednesday, Walkley said. The original length of suspension would have ended his season. But administrators learned Walkley’s only previous athletic-code violation occurred when he was an eighth-grader, Walkley and his dad, Dwain Walkley, said.

So Steven Walkley’s most recent violation was his first in high school and did not require such a long — essentially season-ending — suspension, Walkley and his dad said.

Even with Villani absent from the district tournament, Lake Stevens has four No. 1 seeds (Heinzer, 112 pounds; Ryan Rodorigo, 119; Walkley, 135; Andrew King, 140) and three No. 2 seeds (Eric Soler, 103; Jacob Anderson, 160; Justin Grow, 189). The Vikings still seem capable of retaining their title as the state’s best 4A squad.

“I think they’re going to work through it,” Marysville-Pilchuck coach Craig Iversen said. “Their past speaks volumes of (what the Vikings can accomplish) and I see them making a ton of noise in Tacoma.”

“As long as (Barnes is) the head coach there, they’re going to be in the mix,” Snohomish coach Rob Zabel said.

“When you get to the Tacoma Dome just about anything can happen so I’m not counting them out by any means,” Zabel added. “Are they hurt? Are they a little bit wounded? Maybe, but I’m not counting them out.”

At Marysville-Pilchuck H.S.

Team scores—Lake Stevens 172, Marysville-Pilchuck 170.5, Snohomish 127, Kamiak 126.5, Edmonds-Woodway 107.5, Arlington 105.5, Monroe 90, Oak Harbor 89, Stanwood 84, Cascade 80, Mariner 59, Jackson 56.5, Shorewood 46, Mountlake Terrace 24.5.

Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.