Morrill going for perfection

Published 11:41 pm Friday, February 19, 2010

TACOMA — Micah Morrill knows perfection is possible.

In 2009 as a junior on the Snohomish High School wrestling team, Morrill watched his teammate Stefan St. Marie blow away the competition at the state championships. St. Marie won the Class 4A 135-pound title and wrapped up an epic season with a flawless 39-0 record.

This weekend, Morrill is playing follow the leader.

Now a Snohomish senior, Morrill won both of his matches in the 160-pound weight division Friday during Day 1 of the Mat Classic XXII state championships at the Tacoma Dome. In addition to advancing to today’s semifinals, Morrill upped his record to 40-0.

With back-to-back match victories today he can also enjoy a perfect season, like his pal St. Marie.

“He’s a great example to me: a great friend, a really great kid. I’m kind of trying to follow in his footsteps,” Morrill said of St. Marie, who wrestles for Boise State University but is attending Mat Classic this weekend.

Morrill, who placed third in the state last year, will battle Emerald Ridge junior James Souza in the semis. A district and regional champion, Morrill is ranked No. 3 by WashingtonWrestlingReport.com; Souza is No. 5.

The other 4A 160 semifinal pits top-ranked Jake Mason of University against Lake Stevens’ Jacob Anderson, Morrill’s Western Conference North Division rival. Anderson is ranked fourth. Morrill and Mason each had two pins Friday.

Lake Stevens and Snohomish accounted for six of the seven 4A semifinalists from local schools. In addition to Anderson, Lake Stevens’ Josh Heinzer (112 pounds), Ryan Rodorigo (119 pounds) and Steven Walkley (135 pounds) went 2-0.

Snohomish’s other semifinalist is 145-pounder Luke Perry.

Heinzer of Lake Stevens seeks his third straight individual state title. He pinned his first foe, Central Kitsap’s Joey Troyer, in 28 seconds. Heinzer’s second match was much longer and clearly frustrating; he beat University’s Brandon Matlock 15-3 in a slow-paced grinder.

“That kid didn’t even wrestle. He just tried to not get pinned. He did nothing,” Heinzer said.

In the semifinals, No. 1-ranked Heinzer will take on another opponent from University, Tyler Clark. University, a Spokane school, leads the 4A team standings with 74.5 points. Tahoma, which beat Lake Stevens last weekend at the Region 1 tournament, is second with 53.5 points. Three-time defending team champion Lake Stevens is way back in fifth place (44.5 points).

Lake Stevens had a rough morning session, based on its lofty reputation. The Vikings were 4-4 in the opening round.

“A lot of the kids, it’s their first time here so they kind of don’t know what to expect,” said Heinzer, one of three Lake Stevens seniors in the tournament.

Following Friday’s evening session, six of the Vikings’ eight state participants are active; sophomore Dakoda Reynolds (112 pounds) and freshman Brandon Johnson (215 pounds) were eliminated.

The other local 4A semifinalist is Edmonds-Woodway’s Ryan DeWeese, the only one among E-W’s five state participants who went 2-0.

At state for the second straight season, DeWeese (130 pounds) improved his season record to 32-8 with a pin and a decision. After completing his 8-3 quarterfinal win over Mead’s Tyler McLean, DeWeese got major praise from grinning E-W coach Joe Trieu.

“You just made my day!” said Trieu, the Warriors first-year head coach.

Trieu was DeWeese’s first wrestling coach when DeWeese got into the sport at age 11 as a member of the Wrestling Rhinos club team.

DeWeese takes special-education classes at E-W. He processes some things slower than other kids, Trieu said, but on the mat DeWeese is locked on.

“I just try and focus on what I’m supposed to do — get to the finish and go to the end,” DeWeese said.

3A boys tournament

As a defending state champion, Alec Bird no longer has the luxury of being an underdog.

Bird, an Everett High senior, was a somewhat surprising 3A individual titlist in 2009 and fourth-place finisher in 2008. But now he is ranked 3A No. 1 in the 215-pound division and opponents dream of knocking him off his lofty perch.

“I just feel like everyone’s gunning for me. I’m the one everyone’s going after,” Bird said Friday after surviving both of his challenges in the 3A tournament.

Bird got thrown in his first match but won with a pin in 1:24. In the next match he made a mistake from the top position and fell behind 4-0 against No. 4 Steve Knapp of Enumclaw. Bird avoided the upset though and rallied for a 7-4 decision.

His semifinal foe today is Evergreen’s Thomas Yandall, ranked 11th.

Among Everett’s seven state participants, Bird (36-1 this season) is the only one who advanced to the semis. The sixth-ranked Seagulls are tied for 12th with 27.5 points; Enumclaw leads all 3A squads with 71.

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