MILL CREEK – As the awards ceremony went on following the WIAA District 1 Boys 4A Wrestling Tournament at Jackson High School on Saturday, it almost seemed like a Lake Stevens team party.
The cheering section of parents and friends grew louder with every podium announcement, and the bleachers slowly enveloped in a sea of purple. There was good reason for the Vikings to celebrate.
With four weight class winners and 13 other top-four finishers, Lake Stevens (467.5) won the District 1 Championship, finishing ahead of Arlington (395.5), Glacier Peak (320.0), Jackson (137.0), Cascade (108.0), Mariner (105.5) and Kamiak (100.5).
Less than 24 hours after the Vikings’ girls claimed the District 1 crown, the boys held up their end of the bargain.
“There’s a lot of kids who put in a lot of hard work,” Lake Stevens coach Derek Lopez said. “It’s good to get that opportunity, I guess. You want to enjoy it, but then there’s the next thing, and then the next thing, and then the next thing.”
In the Vikings’ case, the next thing will be the Mat Classic XXXVI state championships in Tacoma on Feb. 20-21. With 17 wrestlers qualifying, the shared joy was apparent amongst the Vikings; anytime a pair of teammates was on the podium together, they would connect one of each hand to form a heart during the pictures.
Senior Jacob Hurley even had to face his classmate Gavin Ketchum in the 126-pound final, winning by a 10-6 decision. It’s not an uncommon situation, but the two still took it in stride. Hurley even called it “funny.”
“We are very, very close together as a team,” Hurley said. “Being so close creates an atmosphere for us to be able to work so hard and care for each other, and it just allows us to prove everybody wrong.”
The other Lake Stevens winners were Brody Hanson (113), Samuel Irizarry (132) and Zakary Leduc (150).
Arlington had the most individual winners on the day with five, but they were unable to match the depth of the Vikings.
“We had goals, we didn’t have expectations. I mean, at this point the kids know how to wrestle, what their style is, and so they just executed and wrestled well,” Arlington coach Jonny Gilbertson said. “We’re happy with the outcome. The kids, they wrestled hard, they wrestled to the best of their abilities.”
Among the winning Eagles was junior Tre Haines (157), who improved to 45-0 on the season. The two-time reigning state champion cruised through the quarterfinals and semifinals, taking a large lead in points before winning with a pin both times. He faced a stronger challenge in Lake Stevens senior Jarrell David in the final, but ultimately strung together a series of takedowns to win via technical fall at 3:29 (21-6).
“Every match is different, so nothing’s the same. I always do new stuff every time,” Haines said. “It just reminds me that anything can happen. I get different looks in practice and through matches.”
Looking ahead at state, Lake Stevens will attempt to follow up its fourth-place finish from last season, but Lopez isn’t as concerned about the results as he is the bigger picture.
“We just have a special group of kids who believe in what we’re trying to tell them,” Lopez said. “This is just such a small part of their lives, right? And we’re just trying to give them some tools to be successful in the stuff that actually matters when they get done out of here.”
That said, the Vikings, Eagles and the rest of the state qualifiers are not done yet.
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Championship Match Results:
106–Quintan Parsons (Arlington) pinned Zach Winterroth (Mariner) :48; 113–Brody Hanson (Lake Stevens) pinned Aaron Esteban (Jackson) 1:29; 120–Brian Nguyen (J) dec. Michael Baxter (A) 11-10; 126–Jacob Hurley (LS) dec. Gavin Ketchum 10-6; 132–Samuel Irizarry (LS) pinned Alejandro Ibarra (Glacier Peak) :23; 138–Beau Gudde (A) pinned Oliver Paisley (LS) 1:18; 144–Dayton Fitzgibbon (A) won by forfeit over Chase Deberry (A); 150–Zakary Leduc (LS) pinned Hassan Al-Rubaie (Cascade) 3:03; 157–Tre Haines (A) tech. fall Jarrell David (LS) 3:29; 165–Colin Edmonds (GP) pinned Dino DiMarco III (LS) 1:10; 175–Grayson James (J) pinned Asher Heist (LS) 1:06; 190–Ken David Larsen (M) pinned Maxwell Bridges (GP) 5:09; 215–Roderick Bernardo (A) dec. Antonio Alvarez (M) 7-4; 285–Connor Aney (GP) dec. Mikey Lawrence (LS) 8-1.
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