Peterson bounces back
Published 10:40 pm Friday, February 18, 2011
TACOMA — Two weeks ago Jesse Peterson’s wrestling season — and more importantly his long-term wellbeing — appeared to be in jeopardy.
The Lake Stevens High School sophomore got knocked unconscious during a hard takedown at the end of his district championship match against Mariner High’s Dallas Parker. After getting pinned by Parker, Peterson lay motionless several minutes and was eventually taken to the hospital.
Incredibly, the resilient Peterson now finds himself two wins from an individual state title.
Making his state debut, along with several of his teammates, Lake Stevens’ Peterson earned two impressive match victories during Day 1 of Mat Classic XXIII, the state wrestling tournaments at the Tacoma Dome.
“He had a tough week after what happened at districts with his injury. He battled back,” Lake Stevens coach Brent Barnes said. “We didn’t know if he was going to make it back or not. … This is huge.”
Peterson, who advanced to state for the first time after placing third last week at the Region 1 tournament, earned a 16-0 technical fall in the Class 4A 103-pound weight division in the first round on Friday at the T-Dome against Eastlake senior Chris Dallas. Peterson followed that up by pinning Davis’ Alexio Garcia in the quarterfinals.
A state placer last season, Garcia is ranked fifth in the state, according to WashingtonWrestlingReport.com. Peterson, ranked fourth, fell behind 4-0 in the match but roared back and prevailed with a dramatic cradle move and pin.
Peterson’s triumph fired up his teammates and Lake Stevens coaches.
“I got off a little slow (against Garcia),” said Peterson, one of five semifinalists for top-ranked Lake Stevens, “but you’ve got to keep fighting and keep going. At the end, I just got him in a cradle and hit it. I just wanted to finish it.”
In the 4A semifinals this morning, Peterson has a rematch at 10 a.m. against — who else — Mariner’s Parker. Like Peterson, Parker is making his state debut. The third-ranked Mariner senior pinned his first-round foe and got revenge in the quarterfinals by winning a 10-5 decision versus Auburn’s Brian Alonzo, who beat Parker at the regional meet last year.
Parker said he felt bad about the way his previous battle with Peterson ended and was worried about his Wesco rival. Peterson and Parker have competed against each other since they were in elementary school, Parker said.
Peterson is an “amazing wrestler, outstanding person and a really nice guy,” said Parker, who is 34-1 this season. “I’m really looking forward to wrestling him again.”
In addition to Peterson, Lake Stevens’ other semifinalists are Ryan Rodorigo (119 pounds), Steven Walkley (140), Jack Reeves (145) and Andrew King (152). The No. 1-ranked Walkley, a state runnerup in 2010, earned two pins on Friday.
Other 4A semifinalists from local schools are: Edmonds-Woodway teammates Ryan DeWeese (130 pounds) and Mac Hutchison (140); Snohomish teammates/brothers Ammon Morrill (152) and Mark Morrill (189; two pins); and Mariner’s Alex Coffman (160).
It was a much better Day 1 at the state meet for Coffman this year compared to 2010, when he went two-and-out. Currently ranked first in his weight division, Coffman pinned Graham-Kapowsin’s Matt Dawley in the first round on Friday and then pinned Shelton’s Colby Barber in the quarterfinals. In today’s semifinals, Coffman will wrestle second-ranked Sam Voigtlander of Mead.
Although just two Mariner wrestlers — Coffman and Parker — qualified for Mat Classic, both of them advanced to the Final Four.
“It’s great,” said Coffman, “because personally the goal for me was to make it here, but I know Dallas (set that goal) as well. It’s just cool to have someone who’s at the same level you are. We’re just both pulling for each other.”
Going into today’s action, Lake Stevens leads the 4A team standings with 67.5 points. Second-ranked Moses Lake, which has six semifinalists, is in second place with 62 points.
“This is going to be close. It’s going to go down to the wire,” said Lake Stevens’ Barnes. “Moses Lake and Mead (fourth place, 50.5 points, six semifinalists) have not flinched. It’s going to be a battle.”
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam and follow Cane on Twitter at MikeCaneHerald.
