MARYSVILLE — If there were any questions as to whether they could stay perfect, the boys of Marysville Pilchuck wrestling left no doubt Wednesday night when they defeated Stanwood 62-12 at home.
The meet featured 10 combined pins or technical fall wins for the Tomahawks, who are off to a 5-0 (3-0 conference) start in dual meets. The loss dropped the visiting Spartans to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in conference dual meets.
Maryville Pilchuck head coach Marcus Haughian believes the Tomahawks fought with the energy that winning demands.
“They wrestled aggressive and when you have a home match against a league opponent, they want to beat them. So they went out there and they worked hard,” Haughian said.
For Marysville Pilchuck’s experienced corps, ensuring perfection has been at the top of their minds since their last imperfect moment in dual meet play — their 35-34 loss last season to Arlington was their only defeat of the year. Junior Garrett Reeves carries the loss with him especially, as he believes he had a chance to win it for his team.
With moments to go in the final bout of the night, Reeves needed a pin to secure enough team points to win the meet for MP. His opponent stalled to ensure that didn’t happen and since then, the Tomahawks have been more determined to go for pins in every meet.
“I kind of took a lot of blame for (the Arlington match) and that pushed me a lot to work hard,” Reeves said. “We’re known for pinning people, we don’t do all that tech’ing crap and soft stuff.”
Indeed, Reeves secured a pin while his twin brother Garrett won the bout after him on a medical forfeit. Both of the twins are hoping to qualify for the upcoming Mat Classic to represent the Tomahawks, as are many upperclassmen on the team.
Seniors Joseph Davis and Danny Vergara finished fifth and eighth, respectively, in the 165-pound weight class at last year’s state tournament and looked poised to return with how they wrestled Wednesday night. Davis won by fall 24 seconds into his match against Javier SanNicolas, while Vergara pinned Stanwood’s Nick Blizzard in the 175-pound bout halfway through the second period. Davis should be in contention again for a state title according to Haughian.
Junior Max Woodall is also a possible state contender for MP, and he looked the part with a dominant showing in a sub-90-second pin in his 138-pound match. Despite the sound victory, Woodall is prioritizing urgency in every meet from this point forward.
“I would say that a lot of us thought this was an easier match or a practice match, but we gotta treat every match like a state championship. You can’t just go out there and believe you’re going to win, sometimes the kid puts you on your back,” Woodall said.
Recurring Stanwood state representative Elijah Fleck looked strong in the 215-pound slot, winning his match against Aiden Eagle by a 4-0 decision. Memphys Ellis also looked strong, taking the 285-pound matchup in a 5-3 decision in one of the best bouts of the night against Santiago Jimenez, as each wrestler scored exhilarating takedowns.
The Spartans and Tomahawks will be back in action on Saturday morning, as both will compete in a 12-team meet at Mount Vernon High School.
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Meet summary
106—Jackson Underwood (M) won by forfeit; 113—Javohn Henry (M) pinned Jakob Birk, 0:48; 120—Garrett Reeves (M) pinned Tate Miller, 2:45; 126—Dylan Reeves (M) won by med. forfeit; 132—Brady Holliday (M) dec. Logan MacEwan, 7-6; 138—Maxwell Woodall (M) pinned Noah Shafer, 1:12; 144—Gunner Janes (M) pinned Micah Knowles, 0:56; 150—Emony Villa-Johnson (M) tech. fall Bryce Stogner, 21-2; 157—Dawson McDaniel (S) won by med. forfeit; 165—Joseph Davis (M) pinned Javier SanNicolas, 0:24; 175—Daniel Vergara (M) pinned Nick Blizzard, 2:59; 190—Donovan Faulkner (M) pinned Eben Bland Jr., 3:34; 215—Elijah Fleck (S) dec. Aiden Eagle, 4-0; 285—Memphys Ellis (S) dec. Santiago Jimenez, 5-3.
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