SHORELINE — Not bad for a junior varsity kid.
Though he lost the championship bout of the 103-pound weight class at the Western Conference South Division sub-regional wrestling meet, just getting there was beyond most people’s expectations.
When Everett freshman Cole Anderson started the 103 championship match Saturday in the Shorewood High School gym, things went at they often go during practice in the Everett wrestling room. His daily practice partner, sophomore Jon Ogden, taught him a thing or two while beating the freshman 11-2.
And with good reason. Ogden had no interest in getting bumped down to J.V.
"Coach came up to me and said ‘You’re wrestling Cole in the finals," said Ogden, who was the first of eight Seagulls to win division titles. " ‘This is your challenge match.’ "
Needing no further motivation, Ogden took down his teammate with 40 seconds remaining in the first round and nearly pinned him. Anderson scored a two-point reversal to start the third round, but will have to wait for another challenge match to supplant Ogden.
Though visibly shaken after the loss, Anderson said he was pleased with his surprising path to a shot at the title.
"I thought I’d do pretty well," Anderson said. "But yeah, I was happy."
The 103 title bout symbolized Everett’s success at the division meet. The Seagulls won eight of the 14 weight classes as Everett compiled 401 1/2 points. Five Mariner wrestlers won titles, but Kamiak used its depth to place second with 298 points — eight more than Mariner. Both schools will send eight wrestlers to the regional meet next Friday and Saturday at Tahoma High School. Everett will send 15. The top three finishers in each class qualified, while the fourth-place wrestler must beat the North Division’s fifth-place finisher to earn a trip to Tahoma.
Anderson helped shut Kamiak out of the individual title category by stunning top seed Jon Baldwin in the semifinals. Using advice from Odgen — who lost to Baldwin during the regular season — Anderson took Baldwin down in the closing seconds of regulation to force overtime. He took Baldwin down again in overtime to cement a 10-8 victory.
Everett won its third straight sub-regional title while taking some sting away from finishing second to Mariner in the regular-season standings.
"I think losing to Mariner focused us," said Everett coach Mark Ryder, whose team lost its first division match in three seasons when the Marauders beat Everett 31-29 on Jan. 15. "Losing that match actually helped us out."
Ogden, Tom Swankosky (112 pounds), Tyler Hill (119), Zach Ordona (130), J.T. Kane (140), Kyle Bernhardt (160), Justin Boyce (171) and Phil Jordan (275) won titles for Everett. The Seagulls were not always known for wrestling, but have easily won the last three sub-regional meets.
"Our coaches started making us work harder," said Jordan, who improved to 23-0. " (Current Mariner coach) Otto Olson came in and worked with us. We just started to step it up."
Mariner 215-pounder Trenton Tuiasosopo put together the most dominant weekend, pinning all three of his opponents in a combined time of 4 minutes, 5 seconds — nearly two minutes less than the time of one full-length match. Tuiasosopo and Jordan were the only wrestlers to record pins in the championship matches. Dan Bush (125), Andrew Dunn (145) and Mohammed Mustafa (152) and Michael Bell (189) also claimed division titles for Mariner.
Edmonds-Woodway’s Steven Korbein became the only wrestler not from Everett or Mariner to win a title when he won the 135-pound championship match.
Tawnyrae Richards and Whitney Anderson — the only two girls in the sub-regional — were eliminated in consolation matches.
Team scores
Everett 401 1/2, Kamiak 298, Mariner 290, Mountlake Terrace 186, Jackson 149 1/2, Edmonds-Woodway 130 1/2, Shorewood 89 1/2.
| First-second place matches
(Both to regional meet) 103—Ogden (Ev) won by major decision over Anderson (Ev), 11-2; 112— Swankosky (Ev) dec. Kintner (Mar), 5-2; 119—Hill (Ev) maj. dec. Lieu (Mar), 9-1; 125—Bush (Mar) won by injury default over B. Irwin (Ev); 130—Ordona (Ev) maj. dec. Eaton (J), 17-6; 135— Korbein (EW) dec. Jensen (S), 5-2; 140— Kane (Ev) maj. dec. Alfi (EW), 15-8; 145—Dunn (Mar) dec. Paulter (EW), 16-9; 152—Mustafa (Mar) dec. Cannon (K), 11-9 OT; 160—Bernhardt (Ev) dec. Munoz (K), 13-8; 171—Boyce (Ev) won by technical fall over Balderson (MT), 20-4; 189—Bell (Mar) maj. dec. Jerome (MT), 13-5; 215—Tuiasosopo (Mar) pinned Warner (J) 1:47; 275—Jordan (Ev) pinned Miller (Mar), :54. Third-fourth matches (Third place to regional meet) 103—Baldwin (K) dec. Hammond (Mar), 6-0; 112—Gentry (MT) pinned McDuffie (J), 3:48; 119—Huss (K) pinned Perez (J), 4:39; 125—Munro (K) maj. dec. McVay (MT), 14-0; 130—M. Irwin (Ev) dec. Rich (K), 1-0; 135—Malone (Ev) maj. dec. Cundy (MT), 16-6; 140—Gray (K) dec. Brazier (Mar), 9-7; 145—Wallace (K) pinned Myers (MT), 2:08; 152—Stiger (Ev) won by technical fall over Passi (S), 21-6; 160—Fox (J) dec. Smith (MT), 11-6; 171—Burns (Ev) pinned Chamalbide (EW), 2:22; 189—Hudson (Ev) dec. Carey (MT), 3-2; 215—Olson (EW) pinned Nelson (S), 3:33; 275—Huss (K) dec. Luatua (Ev), 3-2, 2 OT. |
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