MAT CLASSIC XXII NOTEBOOK: Aliverti honored
Published 11:29 pm Saturday, February 20, 2010
TACOMA — The Voice of Mat Classic was honored Saturday in the Tacoma Dome.
Beginning in 1964, Ed Aliverti announced 44 Washington high school state wrestling championships. He wasn’t present at Mat Classic XXII, but his spirit and enthusiasm for the sport was undeniable.
Aliverti died on Feb. 3 of pancreatic cancer. He was 77. Before the Mat Classic finals on Saturday evening fans observed a tribute to Aliverti, a longtime educator in the Edmonds School District and at Edmonds Community College.
Public-address announcer Al Rasmussen proudly described Aliverti’s dizzying number of contributions to amateur wrestling, including Aliverti’s signature phrase: “Wrestling: The world’s oldest and greatest sport.”
Aliverti never wrestled but got interested in the sport in the 1950s when some wrestlers joined Aliverti’s choir at Edmonds High School. Aliverti was invited to announce at wrestling matches and developed a passion for the sport.
Over the years he announced high school, collegiate and international competitions, including the Olympic Games in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000. He was named Man of the Year by USA Wrestling in 1992 and was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1994.
Rasmussen said Aliverti, who was Rasmussen’s counselor at Lynnwood High School in 1970, inspired Rasmussen to become a wrestling announcer. Rasmussen was stirred by Aliverti’s enthusiastic descriptions at high school meets.
Eventually Aliverti and Rasmussen teamed up and announced together, working side by side at the first 19 Mat Classic competitions.
Two of Aliverti’s daughters, Leslie and Gina, and two of Aliverti’s grandsons were special guests during Saturday’s tribute. They and thousands of fans, wrestlers and officials listened to a recording of Aliverti’s intense version of “America the Beautiful,” which Aliverti always sang before the finals.
The recording, which received loud applause from the crowd, will be played at the Mat Classic for years to come.
Coaches’ academic champions
Six student-athletes from local schools were named Coaches’ Academic Champions and members of the 2010 Washington State Wrestling Coaches Association All-State Team. The 4A winners are Snohomish’s Sonny Bates-Mundell (3.60 grade-point average, 103 pounds), Snohomish’s Luke Perry (4.0, 145), Stanwood’s Joe Eidsness (3.99, 160) and Edmonds-Woodway’s John Kim (3.92, 189).
The two 3A winners are Glacier Peak’s Paul Kim (3.87 grade-point average, 125 pounds) and Lynnwood’s Christopher Kossik (3.96, 215).
Wrestling exchange
Did anyone travel further during their journey to Mat Classic XXII than Josefine Nowak?
The Lake Stevens High junior is an exchange student from Denmark. She is one of two Lake Stevens athletes (along with JoMae Alewine) who participated in the all-classification girls tournament.
Nowak, a 152-pounder, is a first-year wrestler who was recruited to the sport by Alewine this past fall. Nowak’s inexperience showed as she lost her first two matches Friday and was eliminated. But she exceeded expectations just by qualifying for state, Lake Stevens coach Brent Barnes said.
“I don’t know if she knew what state was. She still doesn’t know what it is,” Barnes said Tuesday after Nowak and her teammates finished a punishing practice in Lake Stevens’ muggy wrestling room. Nowak looked exhausted but kept working until it was over.
“It’s been hard for her. As you can see, we don’t cut them any slack,” Barnes said. “We treat everybody the same.”
Even though Nowak is new to wrestling, she got through an entire season with one of the state’s most successful, demanding programs.
“She stepped up,” Barnes said.
Snohomish County connections
In addition to all the local athletes and coaches, lots of other Snohomish County residents contributed at Mat Classic. According to the meet program, Dan Ackley, John Casebeer and Mike Dilworth officiated; Sultan High student-athlete Cassie Beucherie was a national anthem singer; Jackson High was one of the 23 schools who provided a wrestling mat; and at least eight people from the county were scorekeepers.
Please add this note by Jon to the notebook I sent earlier, and add his name to the byline:
Caldwell takes third
Heading into Mat Classic, Lakewoods Keely Caldwell was the top-ranked girl, according to Washington Wrestling Report. The senior placed fifth a year ago and the path to the championship bout seemed to be laying itself out quite nicely.
Until Friday morning.
Caldwell was upset and pinned by unranked Samantha Keesler of Yelm who ended up not placing in the championships in the opening round, dashing Caldwells hopes before the tournament seemed to even begin.
At first it was hard because it was my senior year, Caldwell said. I thought, Hey everybody loses (sometime). Im not going to let it affect me. Im going to do the best I can.
Her best came out during the remainder of Friday and Saturday action. She pinned four out of her next five opponents including Kennewicks Hanna Moon in the third-place bout.
I realized that this is my last chance, Caldwell said. I might as well go out with a bang. At least I won my last match.
The wait was worth it
Prior to the 2A 145-pound championship bout, Archbishop Murphy’s Cam Wade had plenty of time to think. He sat alone in the corner of the Tacoma dome on the concrete floor partially sheltered from the commotion of the six simultaneous championship matches away from family and away from his coaches.
“I was telling myself that I’ve got it won,” Wade said. “You can’t let any negative thoughts in your mind. You have to be positive.”
When he took the mat with Centralia’s Connor Pelzel — a wrestler he beat a year ago on the way to a third-place finish — he was positive he was going to win.
Pelzel made a bout of it but Wade was prepared and came away with the 9-6 decision for the victory.
What the junior grappler wasn’t prepared for was the emotions that would take over after a win that has been a long time coming.
“I’ve wanted to win this my whole life,” Wade said. “The emotions… it’s crazy. This is what it’s about right here.”
After the match, bloodied around the nose and mouth from a collision with Pelzel’s shoulder, Wade made a beeline to hug his dad and his coach. The Murphy coaching staff changed into flashy red shirts with black ties emblazoned with the word, “wrestling” for his and fellow Wildcat Jeremy Wattam’s medal bouts.
“He wrestled tough,” Murphy coach Blaine Gilchrist-Smith said. “He worked hard this year. He deserved it.”
Murphy brought two wrestlers to the championships and both took home a medal. Wattam took eighth at 119 pounds. Wade is the school’s first individual 2A champion.
Kolton Surprise
Of Darrington’s state qualifiers, Kolton Palmer was not the best regarded after the district championships. Palmer placed second at 160 pounds at the 1B/2B district meet but heavyweight Moe Hyde and Jon Fenstermaker (135 pounds) were supposed to be the headline grabbers at state.
Palmer quickly forgot about the district meet and won three matches in convincing fashion, giving up just a single point in each bout. He upset the No. 1 seed in the semifinal and his 14-1 trouncing of Selkirk’s Kelan Sax put an exclamation point on his weekend.
“After districts I just didn’t wan t to lose again … I came in here just thinking no one is going to get a point on me,” Palmer said.
Fenstermaker and Hyde both medaled but placed third and fourth respectively. Darrington finished sixth out of 29 1B/2B teams.
Everett ninth
Alec Bird was the happy ending to Everett’s somewhat disappointing meet. The Seagulls, ranked No. 6 by Washington Wrestling report, thought they had a chance at a team trophy (top four).
The Seagulls ended up ninth on the giant manual leader board at the Tacoma Dome, two spots ahead of their 2009 finish.
“We are glad to be back on the board, but a little bit disappointed that we weren’t a little bit higher,” Elliott said. “One thing about these kids is that they worked so hard all year round. They give everything they’ve got. I love these kids and I love how they go to battle.”
One Seagull that worked especially hard was Danny Lopez at 171 pounds. The senior placed third in state a year ago but dislocated his shoulder a week before districts. His doctor cleared him to wrestle but he was unable to do a single pushup or pull-up and the Everett staff decided to keep it under wraps until after the state tournament.
Lopez finished fifth and was a controversial overtime stall call away from a chance at third.
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.
