Edmonds-Woodway headed to Pacific Coast Invite
Published 7:09 pm Tuesday, December 20, 2011
The Edmonds-Woodway wrestling team should have a better idea of its prospects for the 2011-12 season after the holiday break.
The Warriors are scheduled to wrestle at the Pacific Coast Invitational Dec. 28-29 at Hudson’s Bay High School in Vancouver, Wash.
The invitation-only tournament features some of the top teams in Washington state along with some Oregon schools.
“It’s a great opportunity to see how our wrestlers stack up,” said Edmonds-Woodway coach Brian Alfi. “It’s nice to get that high-level competition. We really load up our December schedule. It gets us prepared for the league schedule and the postseason.”
Junior Matt Cuzzetto (145 pounds) finished second at last year’s Pacific Coast tourney, the top returning finisher for Edmonds-Woodway. George Johanson (heavyweight) and Noah Cuzzetto (103/106) finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
“We’ll see a lot of quality teams,” Alfi said. “It’s one of the premier tournaments in the state of Washington.”
The Warriors graduated many of its top wrestlers from last year, including state champion Ryan DeWeese and state runner-up Mac Hutchinson.
“We still have a good group,” Alfi said. “We’re just a little younger. … Right now we’re trying to figure it out. We have a lot of guys stepping up.”
Three of those guys include junior Marq Brown, senior Kris Delaney and senior Collin Natterstad.
“A lot of guys are emerging and taking on important roles this season,” Alfi said.
Matthew Cuzzeto (152) and Noah Cuzzeto (113) both won their weight classes at the Larry Brown Invitational on Dec. 9 in Fife.
Johanson, who placed second as a sophomore in the league tournament, continues to mature.
“He’s ready to make some big steps in the heavyweight division,” Alfi said. “It’s tough to win at heavyweight when you’re an underclassmen.”
Noah Cuzzetto suffered his first two losses of the season at last week’s Tri-State tournament at North Idaho High School.
But Alfi still expects big things out of him. “We hope he’ll be standing high on the podium in the Tacoma Dome in February,” Alfi said.
