By John Sleeper
Herald Writer
TACOMA – For Brandon Hern, today is the day.
This is the day the South Whidbey High School senior has been waiting for. The one chance in his life he’ll get to repeat as a state champion.
Hern won both his matches Friday in his quest to become a two-time state champion at Mat Classic XIV in the Tacoma Dome. The 171-pound champion last year, Hern is a muscular, athletic 189-pounder who won both his matches in impressive fashion, gaining a berth in today’s 2A semifinals and inching closer and closer to his ultimate goal – a cameo.
“This is what I’ve been dreaming about every night for a year,” Hern said. “It would mean everything to me.”
Certainly, Hern gave his foes nightmares. Hern pinned Lakewood’s Talon Ventura in 40 seconds in his first match, then scored a 6-0 decision over Tonasket’s Bert Stalder. So after getting little work in his first match, Hern had to grind it out and be patient against an opponent who wrestled extremely defensively.
“I wanted to wrestle him smart,” said Hern, who will attend Oregon State next fall. “I didn’t want to make any errors that could cost me.”
Hern was a huge highlight among area wrestlers Friday, but certainly not the only one. Hern is one of seven area wrestlers (not including Class 4A) still in line for state titles, having reached the semifinals in their respective weight classes.
Darrington junior Darren Holz won both his matches in the A/B 103-pound class, winning a 6-4 decision over Levi Coleman of White Pass and 10-7 over Frankie Torres of Warden. Holz faces Jeff Cox of Warden in today’s semifinals.
Senior Brett Bailey of Lakewood won both his matches in the Class 2A 135-pound division. He beat Andres Valleza 9-1 in the morning match, then topped Scott Ouradnik of Ephrata 4-2 in the night session. Bailey moved into today’s semifinals against Bryan Caraway of Goldendale.
Sultan senior Izac Margarito moved into the Class 2A 112-pound semifinals with 4-2 decisions over both Kameron Hopkins of East Valley (Yakima) and Daniel Curulla of Elma. Margarito faces Stuart Draper of Ridgefield in the semis.
Cedarcrest junior Aaron Pedeferri, last year’s champion in the 112-pound class in 3A, faces Craig Fawcett of Franklin Pierce in the 119-pound semifinals. Pedeferri pinned Ethan Sandelin of Sedro-Wooley in 1:53 and scored a 15-4 decision over Nate Uehara of River Ridge.
Pedeferri’s teammate, Robby Westermann, pinned Peter Mandell in 3:11 and beat White River’s Kyle Dickson 15-4 to capture a semifinal berth in the Class 3A 189-pound division.
Also in 3A, Reese Cogdill of Lynnwood reached the 215-pound semis with an injury default over Lakeside’s Felix Sweetman and a 6-5 decision over Drew Oswald of Cheney.
Darrington, which brought 12 wrestlers to the Class A/B meet, didn’t break anyone into the semifinals, but has three athletes who survived the losers brackets and will compete in the consolation rounds today, hoping for third-place finishes.
Winning two of three matches for the Loggers were: Justin Friddle (103), Jordan Padgett (135) and Kevin Jones (275).
Sultan’s Adam Colliers (112) pulled out two wins in three matches to qualify for today’s medal rounds.
Ryan Conley of Sultan made it into today’s consolation rounds in the 2A 119-pound class, winning two of his three matches.
Chris Long of South Whidbey fought through the Class 2A 145-pound consolation bracket to stay alive in the tournament and can still finish as high as third.
Daniel Caldwell of Lakewood won two matches in the 2A 171-pound class and is in today’s consolation rounds.
Chris Martin of South Whidbey took two of his three matches and will compete for third place through the consolation bracket in the 215-pound class in the 2A meet.
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