The Everett Seagulls put on the 34th annual Everett Classic Wrestling Tournament on Saturday and won the event for the fifth time in its history, finishing just ahead of Lake Stevens in the team standings.
The Seagulls won 30 of their 48 matches and finished with 158 points. Lake Stevens was second with 133 points and was followed by Arlington (116), Mount Si (115.5), Issaquah (109) and Timberline (101).
Wrestlers from 31 high schools competed in the one-day event, Everett wrestling coach Brien Elliot said.
“We were trying to win, but we knew it was going to be a longshot for us to win it,” Elliott said. “Some teams didn’t have full squads. … But (to win) it is a really big deal. A little luck and a little skill helped us. It was fun to win it.”
Christian Bagdadi was the lone Everett wrestler to capture an individual championship, winning the 152-pound division. Bagdadi came from behind to defeat Mark Johnston of Oak Harbor, who is ranked No. 3 in the state at 160 pounds, 5-4 in what Elliott said was one of the more exciting finals of the tournament.
“He looked outstanding,” Elliott said of Bagdadi. “He got the Outstanding Wrestler Award. He was pretty excited about that. He had a lot of state-ranked guys in his weight class. It was pretty neat.”
Other local wrestlers who claimed individual titles included Gavin Rork (126 pounds) and Jeremy Nygard (132) of Arlington, Jeremy Vester (138) and Jackson Constant (285) of Oak Harbor, and Tim Smith of Meadowdale (220).
Arlington and Oak Harbor were among four schools that produced a pair of individual champions. The others were Vashon Island (Luke Larson at 106 pounds and Chase Wickman at 120) and Liberty (Connor Small at 170 and Romney Noel at 182).
“The more that you put your kids up against tougher kids, and the more that they start to see that level on a regular basis, the more they start to rise to that level,” Elliott said of the reason for the tournament. “If you go out and seek the tougher competition and get those kids seeing that level and they start to have success at it, then they build a lot of confidence, and that’s what you want by the end of the season going into the postseason.”
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