St. Marie advances to semis
Published 10:28 pm Friday, February 18, 2011
TACOMA — Josh St. Marie has come a long ways as a wrestler since he was an over-confident eighth grader. That was never more evident than in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A state wrestling tournament on Friday at the Tacoma Dome.
St. Marie, a senior from Glacier Peak, advanced to the semifinals at 130 pounds by upsetting Enumclaw’s Hunter File, last year’s state champ at 125 pounds, in a 7-5 decision.
It was the first time St. Marie had faced File since he was an eighth grader in his second year of wrestling. At a freestyle wrestling tournament, File was beating everyone in his age group, so his dad asked St. Marie if he would mind wrestling down to give File some stiffer competition. It didn’t go so well for St. Marie.
“I sucked back then, but I was like, ‘Oh, a younger kid, I’ll wrestle him,’” St. Marie said. “And he pinned me pretty quick. That was the only other time I’ve wrestled him. He’s always been up there at the top of the state, so I knew I’d have to be on my game to beat him.”
Facing one of the favorites to win at 130 pounds, St. Marie took an early lead and held on in the final minute as File tried in vain to get a pin before time ran out.
“It feels amazing,” St. Marie said. “I knew I could do it. That was my goal all week. I trained thinking about beating him, and I did it.”
St. Marie’s older brother, Stefan, won a state title two years ago for Snohomish as a 135-pound senior, and for the younger St. Marie, a tough road to a title would make matching that feat even more gratifying. St. Marie wasn’t happy seeing File near him on the bracket at first, but came to embrace the challenge as he prepared for state.
“At first I was like, oh crap, how’d that happen?” said St. Marie, who placed seventh at 119 pounds last year. “But then I realized that if I really want to win the state championship, I’d have to beat him eventually anyway. I figured, the tougher the road, the more glory. … It gives me the confidence that I’m here and I can do it. Anybody can win; I can win.”
St. Marie’s teammate, sophomore Sean Elledge, is also in the semifinals after winning twice by decision at 160 pounds, creating the possibility of an all-Wesco final. Everett junior Connor Boyce is in the other 160-pound semifinal after a pair of wins.
Boyce’s Everett teammate Joel Palabrica made the semifinals at 140 pounds with a first-round pin and a quarterfinal decision
Shorewood senior Brandon Leach advanced to the semis at 119 pounds with a pair of impressive results. He pinned Foss’ Sandy Dittell in 23 seconds in the first round, then in the quarterfinals he pinned Kamiakin’s Harley Kolp in 47 seconds.
2A BOYS
Cedarcrest senior Cody Paxman, who is ranked first in the state in the 2A classification at 152 pounds, advanced to the semifinals with a pair of pins. He improved his season record to 30-2, and will face Cheney sophomore Elias Mason in the today’s semi. Paxman finished eighth at state at 145 pounds last year.
Jon Poyner, a senior from Granite Falls, made 215 semis, where he will face Centralia’s Justin Gillaspie, the top ranked 2A wrestler in his weight class.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.
