Snohomish’s St. Marie focuses on winning at Class 4A Region I tourney

SNOHOMISH — Even undefeated wrestlers get nervous.

Stefan St. Marie went into his final match at the Class 4A Region 1 Wrestling Tournament with a perfect season record of 34-0. But as he warmed up Saturday for the 135-pound championship final, St. Marie worried.

The reason: St. Marie, a Snohomish High School senior, had to wrestle Tahoma’s Tyler Lamb. In the Washington Wrestling Report 4A rankings St. Marie is No. 1 and Lamb is No. 2. It was their first meeting of the season.

“I was pretty nervous,” St. Marie said.

He sure didn’t show any uneasiness on the mat. Dominant from the start, St. Marie pinned Lamb in the third period and energized his fans at the Snohomish High gym. Afterward St. Marie was named the region’s 4A wrestler of the year. He helped Snohomish score 162 points and place second behind top-ranked Lake Stevens (260.5 points) in the 23-team tournament.

The top five finishers in each weight division qualified for the Mat Classic state championships Feb. 20-21 at the Tacoma Dome; sixth-place finishers will be alternates for Mat Classic.

Just like last year, Lake Stevens will send 13 wrestlers to state, where the Vikings will try to win their third consecutive team title.

“I was really happy with the 13,” Lake Stevens coach Brent Barnes said. “I thought anywhere from 11 to 13 would be really good.”

Eight Lake Stevens wrestlers made the finals and three won: Josh Heinzer at 112 pounds, Jacob Anderson (145) and George King (152). Heinzer and King were 2008 individual state champs.

Heinzer was extremely active in his regional final, defeating Nick Aliment of Kentridge 20-5. The key is always being relentless for all three 2-minute periods, Heinzer said: “That’s how they are at the state tournament. You’ve got to go 100 percent the whole match.”

Other individual champions from local schools were Kamiak’s Colton Kusilek (125 pounds); Arlington’s Chris Myers (160); Bryant Dickerson (285), and Snohomish’s Sam Ottow (130).

Ottow — a two-time state runner-up and now four-time regional winner — earned pins in all three of his tournament matches. His last pin came in the third round against Lake Stevens freshman Steven Walkley. “Going in and pinning everybody wasn’t really what I expected to do,” said Ottow, 32-2 this season, “but it’s definitely fun — definitely a confidence boost.”

Earlier, Ottow boosted St. Marie’s confidence. The Snohomish teammates jogged together in preparation for their back-to-back championship finals on the center mat. When St. Marie admitted he was nervous, Ottow reassured him. “He said, ‘Don’t focus on being nervous. Focus on winning.’”

St. Marie followed the plan, building an 11-0 lead before pinning Tahoma’s Lamb. St. Marie, now 34-0, is one of seven state qualifiers for Snohomish.

Before the finals the 4A Region 1 coaches of the year were honored: Edmonds-Woodway head coach Mike Hanchett, Arlington assistant Jim Smoots and College Place Middle School’s Aaron Swett.

At Snohomish H.S.

Team scores

1. Lake Stevens 260.5, 2. Snohomish 162, 3. Auburn 147, 4. Tahoma, 5. Kentwood 110, 6. Edmonds-Woodway 106.5, 7. Kentlake 67, T-8. Arlington, Kamiak 64, 10. Auburn Riverside 62, 11. Oak Harbor 58, 12. Kent-Meridian 55, 13. Kentridge 46, 14. Monroe 42, 15. Marysville-Pilchuck 39, T-16. Stanwood, Thomas Jefferson 33, 18. Shorewood 25, 19. Mariner 24, 20. Jackson 12, 21. Cascade 8, 22. Mountlake Terrace 5, 23. Federal Way 0.

State qualifiers: The top five finishers in each weight division qualified for Mat Classic Feb. 20-21 at the Tacoma Dome; sixth-place finishers will be alternates for Mat Classic.

First/second-place matches

103-Navejas (KWOD) dec. Rodorigo (LS) 4-1; 112-Heinzer (LS) technical fall Aliment (KRID) 20-5; 119-Turner (AR) dec. Stilwell (LS) 12-10; 125-Kusilek (KAM) dec. S. Anderson (LS) 3-1; 130-Ottow (SNO) pinned Walkley (LS) 4:38; 135-St. Marie (SNO) pinned Lamb (TAH) 5:08; 140-Quinn (KWOD) technical fall Perry (SNO) 19-4; 145-J. Anderson (LS) dec. Carrillo (KLAK) 8-6; 152-G. King (LS) major dec. Mi. Morrill (SNO) 11-3; 160-Myers (ARL) pinned Lemmon (KMER) 2:47; 171-Bayer (TAH) dec. Rutledge (AUB) 5-2; 189-Swartz (AUB) dec. Johanson (E-W) 5-2; 215-Knudtsen (TAH) dec. Young (AUB) 5-3; 285-Dickerson (ARL) dec. Teuber (LS) 4-1 2OT.

Third/fourth-place matches

103-Valdez (KMER) dec. Vulliet (E-W) 5-3; 112-Leach (SHO) dec. Duran (STAN) 8-4; 119-Saurwein (KRID) dec. Alonzo (KWOD) 1-0; 125-Maughan (AUB) dec. Zimmerman (OH) 4-2; 130-Donaldson (M-P) dec. Deweese (E-W) 9-7 OT; 135-Alewine (LS) dec. Milat (TAH) 7-4; 140-Schultz (AR) pinned Jacobson (KAM) 1:54; 145-Buban (TAH) dec. Smith (KMER) 13-6; 152-Davis (AUB) dec. Schuessler (TAH) 8-2; 160-Welch (LS) dec. Eley (KLAK) 5-3; 171-LeHuquet (LS) injury default Vasquez (MON); 189-Caraballo (SNO) dec. Kenagy (MON) 6-5; 215-Britton (SNO) dec. Kroshko (MAR) 5-3; 285-Conlan (AUB) major dec. Maybin (SNO) 15-5.

Fifth/sixth-place matches

103-Chacko (AUB) dec. Krafft (KAM) 11-5; 112-Hutchison (E-W) pinned Peterson (KWOD) 4:00; 119-Warren (E-W) dec. Blevins (M-P) 5-2; 125-Zografos (KWOD) 6-2; 130-Elliot (OH) dec. Higa (TAH) 8-6; 135-Johnson (LS) dec. Pewitt (AUB) 6-5; 140-McIntosh (TJ) dec. Tuttle (OH) 3-1; 145-Alfi (E-W) dec. Regan (KAM) 4-0; 152-Nistrian (TJ) dec. McAllister (E-W) 5-1; 160-Karpstein (AUB) dec. Jo (SHO) 6-0; 171-Smith (KWOD) major dec. McMahon (KLAK) 15-3; 189-Grow (LS) dec. Hogan (KLAK) 1-0; 215-Hillis (M-P) pinned Rutledge (E-W) 0:59; 285-Herrick (KWOD) dec. Clarke (AR) 6-2.

Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam.