MONROE — Favored to advance to the state wrestling championships last year, Andrew King fell short of state by getting eliminated at the regional meet.
“Last year I just wasn’t (mentally) ready for big matches like I have been this year,” said King, a senior on the Lake Stevens High School wrestling team.
On Saturday, King continued to show that this season he has both the physical and mental toughness to get to state, and maybe even win it all. He earned a 4-1 decision over Snohomish junior Ammon Morrill in the 152-pound championship match during the 4A Northwest District Wrestling Tournament at Monroe High School.
Ranked No. 1 among 4A individuals by WashingtonWrestlingReport.com, King helped top-ranked Lake Stevens win the district team title.
King said he doesn’t psych himself out before tough matches anymore — one of many areas he has improved in, thanks to Lake Stevens coach Brent Barnes.
“He’s really helped me (with) hard work, determination and to know to never give up. He’s helped me be way more technical than I ever thought I could be … and get the right mindset,” said King, who pinned 4A No. 2-ranked Nathan Shortt of Arlington in the semifinals before beating Morrill, who bumped up a weight class and is ranked No. 4 at 145 pounds.
King’s approach and focus is much better this season, Barnes said: “He’s been the epitome of steady. He’s a really steady performer and stays within himself and knows what he needs to do.”
Propelled by their depth and a great final round, the Vikings scored 360.5 points. No. 20 Marysville-Pilchuck (332 points) was second and No. 17 Snohomish (293 points) was third in the two-day tournament, which featured all 11 Western Conference 4A teams: six from the North Division and five from the South Division.
The top six finishers in each weight division qualified for the 4A regional wrestling tournament on Feb. 12 at Cavelero Mid High School in Lake Stevens. Seventh-place district finishers are regional alternates.
In terms of setting itself up for the regional, Lake Stevens did “pretty good,” said coach Barnes, whose team has 13 regional qualifiers.
“We got everybody qualified for next week, and that’s the biggest thing,” he said.
King was one of six individual champions for Lake Stevens. The others were: Eric Soler (112 pounds), Ryan Rodorigo (119 pounds), Kinsey Johnson (135 pounds), Steven Walkley (140 pounds) and Cody Schlosser (285 pounds).
M-P, Edmonds-Woodway and Mariner had two individual champs apiece. In addition, M-P sends a district-best 16 wrestlers to the regional — three more than Lake Stevens.
“We were happy with (16 regional qualifiers),” M-P coach Craig Iversen said, noting that even more Tomahawks might have advanced if not for injuries.
Speaking of injuries, a particularly frightening moment occurred during the 103-pound championship bout. In the second period, Mariner senior Dallas Parker used a takedown move to slam Lake Stevens sophomore Jesse Peterson to the mat. Peterson landed hard on his back and head; Parker won with a pin.
The impact knocked Parker unconscious for several minutes. Athletic trainers and coaches surrounded Peterson on the mat. About 15 minutes later five medical personnel from Monroe Fire District 3 arrived. They checked Peterson — who had regained consciousness — and then carefully placed him on a backboard and transported him to an ambulance.
As Peterson was carried out of the gym, the supportive crowd applauded and the public-address announcer said: “Our wishes go with you, Jesse.”
After being examined at a hospital, Peterson was deemed OK and apparently just suffered from a loss of oxygen and not a head or neck injury, said Barnes.
“I’m assuming what happened is he got the wind knocked out of him really bad, and that can be awful scary when you’ve never had it happen,” Barnes said.
It appears Peterson, who returned to the Monroe gym after being released from the hospital, should be able to wrestle at the regional meet, Barnes said.
E-W senior 130-pounder Ryan DeWeese carries a ton of momentum into the regional. DeWeese, a 2010 state runnerup, was 4-0 with four pins in the district tournament. He capped his impressive weekend with a second-round pin against Stanwood’s Jarred Studley.
“He’s coming on. I’m really happy for him,” E-W coach Joe Trieu said.
DeWeese — who is 23-5 this season and ranked No. 3 in the state — said his keys to success are “Hard work, staying focused and just being ready for whatever’s next.”
Note: Three coach of the year awards were announced. The winners were E-W’s Trieu (Wesco 4A Coach of the Year), E-W’s Brian Alfi (Wesco 4A Assistant Coach of the Year) and Lake Stevens’ Dean Width (Wesco 4A Middle Level Coach of the Year).
4A Northwest District Wrestling Tournament
At Monroe H.S.
Team scores
1. Lake Stevens 360.5, 2. Marysville-Pilchuck 332, 3. Snohomish 293, 4. Edmonds-Woodway 272, 5. Arlington 218, 6. Mariner 148, 7. Stanwood 143.5, 8. Monroe 133.5, 9. Jackson 127, 10. Kamiak 123, 11. Cascade 113.5.
Individual results
The top six finishers in each weight division qualified for the 4A regional wrestling tournament on Feb. 12 at Cavelero Mid High School in Lake Stevens. Sixth-place finishers will wrestle a pig-tail match.
Championship matches
103-Parker (Mariner) pinned Peterson (LS) 2:41; 112-Soler (LS) dec. Vulliet (E-W) 7-1; 119-Rodorigo (LS) technical fall over Thomas (Arlington) 23-8; 125-Mendoza (M-P) major dec. Perry (Monroe) 15-6; 130-Deweese (E-W) pinned Studley (Stanwood) 3:51; 135-K. Johnson (LS) dec. M. Cuzzetto (E-W) 2-1; 140-Walkley (LS) major dec. Hutchison (E-W) 15-7; 145-Robinson (M-P) dec. Reeves (LS) 6-5; 152-King (LS) dec. A. Morrill (Snohomish) 4-1; 160-Coffman (Mariner) major dec. Thody (Snohomish) 14-3; 171-Perez (E-W) major dec. Herbert (M-P) 19-10; 189-M. Morrill (Snohomish) pinned Proffit (Snohomish) 3:21; 215-Quinton (Arlington) major dec. Hatch (M-P) 8-0; 285-Schlosser (LS) pinned Johanson (E-W) 2:24.
Third/fourth-place matches
103-Obregon (Snohomish) pinned N. Cuzzetto (E-W) 4:21; 112-Reynolds (LS) technical fall over Heitzman (Kamiak) 15-0; 119-Speer (Snohomish) dec. C. Walkley (LS) 7-4; 125-Amundson (Arlington) dec. Bardell (Arlington) 1-0; 130-L. Johnson (LS) major dec. Villalobos (Mariner) 15-4; 135-Schut (Stanwood) major dec. Haas (M-P) 9-0; 140-L. Duncan (Cascade) dec. Davis (Jackson) 8-2; 145-Curnutt (Monroe) dec. Badgley (Arlington) 17-10; 152-Shortt (Arlington) dec. Nijem (Jackson) 8-4; 160-Kim (E-W) dec. Olliges (LS) 5-2; 171-Bennett (Stanwood) dec. Feiock (Jackson) 8-3; 189-Haughian (M-P) dec. Nelson (Mariner) 7-2; 215-Reinhard (Snohomish) pinned Hoeper (M-P) 3:51; 285-Schumann (M-P) dec. Shrinzada (Cascade) 2-1 OT.
Fifth/sixth-place matches
103-Almachar (M-P) dec. Garcia (Kamiak) 7-3; 112-Daurie (M-P) dec. Bui (Mariner) 8-6; 119-Bates-Mundell (Snohomish) pinned Gonzales (Arlington) 4:08; 125-Blevins (M-P) major dec. Pope (Snohomish) 12-4; 130-Wielgus (M-P) pinned Thuline (Arlington) 2:02; 135-Stringfellow (Jackson) dec. Johnson (Mariner) 5-4; 140-Gershmel (LS) pinned Hammond (Kamiak) 2:20; 145-Himmelspach (Arlington) injury default over Z. Duncan; 152-Logstrom (E-W) dec. Perkins (M-P) 6-2; 160-Foster (Monroe) pinned Bengen (M-P) 4:13; 171-Heideman (Monroe) technical fall Kearney (Snohomish) 16-1; 189-Hering (Jackson) pinned Al-Mansuri (M-P) 3:53; 215-A. Johansen (E-W) pinned Hatziliadis (Kamiak) 5:28; 285-Diaz (M-P) pinned Zissel (Monroe) 2:10.
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam and follow Cane on Twitter at MikeCaneHerald.
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