Meadowdale takes Lynnwood Classic title

Published 7:09 pm Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Meadowdale made it two for two.

One week after winning the Scoop Invitational, the Mavericks claimed the team championship at the Lynnwood Classic wrestling tournament Dec. 17 at Lynnwood High School.

Three Meadowdale wrestlers won individual titles – senior Dustin Diemond (138 pounds), Jacob Cecil (182) and Aaron Yared (heavyweight) – as the Mavericks scored 201 points to finish ahead of host Lynnwood (162.5), which edged Granite Falls (161.5) for second place. Mountlake Terrace (75) took ninth.

The season has started out well for Meadowdale’s wrestlers, coach Brian Boardman said. “They’re working hard,” he said. “They’re working well as a team, as a group.”

The Mavericks are doing extra work outside of practice, such as going for runs, Boardman added. “They work well together and with each other in the wrestling room. They’re a close-knit bunch.”

Meadowdale advanced six individuals to the finals. Senior Tanner Davenport lost to teammate Yared in the finals and senior Lucas Takeuchi (160) made it to the finals but was held out of the match due to a knee injury. Junior Nate Tibbet finished second at 152 to Lynnwood’s Hunter Lord, who recorded a pin at the 34-second mark.

Diemond is undefeated this season. He pinned South Whidbey’s Cameron Schille at the 5-minute, 23-second mark in the finals. Diemond also posted pins in his two other matches.

“He’s wrestling real strong and not making a lot of errors,” Boardman said. “His moves are nice, crisp and clean. He’s very aggressive.”

Cecil also is having a solid season. He pinned Mountlake Terrace’s Brett Potter in 1:23 in the finals.

“This was by far his best tournament,” Boardman said of the sophomore standout. “He did a good job of just pure wrestling. He’s continually moving and doing good moves.”

Takeuchi missed his junior season due to a knee injury. He suffered a different injury to the same knee and withdrew from the finals just to be safe, Boardman said. Takeuchi had a pin and 10-7 decision in his two matches.

Boardman was especially pleased by the performance of a pair of freshmen – Timmy Smith (220) and Trevor Coleman (120). Smith finished third, while Coleman placed sixth. The Mavericks also had solid outings up and down the lineup from sophomores and juniors.

“We’ve got a good mixture from seniors, sophomores and juniors,” Boardman said.

Lynnwood coach Clint Karsten hoped his team would finish first in its own tournament but still was pleased by his squad.

First-place finishers included Jonah Simon (106), Alex Basabe (120), Zach Calkins (132) and Lord (152).

“I was really pleased with the team, not just the four champions,” Karsten said. “I had a kid who didn’t score any points but his improvement from his last outing was just amazing. The team performed really well.”

Both Lord and Basabe currently are undefeated. Basabe was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding wrestler for the second straight year. He defeated Granite Falls’ Josh Short 11-5 in the finals.

Lord, a sophomore, won despite a sore knee.

“He’s 100 percent self-motivated,” Karsten said. “He puts everything into it. He’s consistently working hard in every practice. A coach couldn’t ask for any more.”

Simon continues to improve week by week.

“He’s really growing as a wrestler,” Karsten said. “He’s got all the technique.”

Karsten still sees room for growth for the Royals and is looking for Lynnwood’s individual champions to face even tougher challenges in upcoming tournaments.

“It’s early. We’ve got a lot of improvement to go,” he said. “The kids are doing the work. It’s paying off for them.”

Mountlake Terrace had two sophomores in the finals – Syd Springberg (170) and Potter (182).

Springberg lost a 9-4 decision to Cascade’s Masood Ahmad. He just became eligible last week and wrestled his second, third and fourth matches of the year at the tournament.

Freshman Taron Castleton took third at 132.

“We’re happy to see his progress,” Mountlake Terrace coach Kanoe Vierra said.

The Hawks brought seven individuals to the tournament and all seven ended up scoring, which was one of the team’s goals.

“We want them to learn to score points at tournaments,” Vierra said. “They did well. I was proud of how they came back after losing in the first round or wherever they lost. They came back through and won a match.”