Edmonds-Woodway captures three titles

EDMONDS

A trio of Edmonds-Woodway wrestlers walked away with first-place honors at the 32nd annual Edmonds Invitational wrestling tournament.

Junior Mathew Toma, who was named the tournament’s 103- to 140-pound most valuable player, scored a pin over Franklin Pierce’s Erik Booth at the 2:42 mark in the 135 division Jan. 6 at Edmonds-Woodway High School. Teammates David Alfi (145) and Adrian Siers (152) also recorded victories in the finals.

The 135 finals were a see-saw match until Toma secured the pin. Toma fell behind 2-0 at the start but quickly tied the score at 2 and then took a 3-2 lead. The two wrestlers continue to counter each other’s moves with tie scores at 3 and 5. Booth had a 7-5 lead when Toma recorded the pin.

“At first it was going back and forth. It was pretty close,” Toma said. “Maybe I could have done a little better during that. Near the end I thought I’d throw him, so I kind of set that up a little bit and threw him around a little and I just hit it.”

Toma (14-3) opened the tournament with an 18-2 technical fall over Meadowdale’s Tim Primacio and then pinned Franklin Pierce’s Stephen Pedersen at the 1:24 mark. Toma is pleased the way his season is shaping up.

“I feel I’m going in the right direction,” he said.

Alfi scored a 9-4 decision over Mountlake Terrace’s Bryce Call in the 145 finals. Alfi took a 3-2 lead into the second period and extended it to 4-2. A 6-2 lead was cut to 6-4 before Alfi (12-3) responded with three unanswered points.

“I tried to control the match,” Alfi said. “I didn’t want to let him set up his shots. I stayed tough.”

Alfi, who had a first-round bye, scored an 11-0 decision over Granite Falls’ Vance Bucklin in the semifinals.

Siers also maintained control throughout his match en route to a 6-1 decision over Woodinville’s Zac Michell in the 152 finals.

“I was able to ride him out and keep him from escaping to score points,” Siers said.

Siers pinned Jackson’s Devin Werner at the 1:48 mark to start off the day and then followed up with a 18-3 technical fall over Meadowdale’s Nick Hewitt.

“I had a pretty successful day,” Siers said.

The Edmonds-Woodway trio helped the Warriors (137 points) to a third-place finish in the team competition behind champion Woodinville (200) and Franklin Pierce (188). Mountlake Terrace (126.5) and Lynnwood (123) rounded out the top five at the eight-team tournament.

Third place was a solid showing for an Edmonds-Woodway squad that was nursing some injuries, Alfi noted.

“We did pretty good as a team,” he said. “We stepped it up.”

Three other Edmonds District wrestlers also scored titles. Meadowdale’s Wes Garton (215) was named co-MVP with Granite Falls’ Andrew McKibben (285) in the 145-285 weight classes. Meadowdale’s Travis Cramer (189) and Mountlake Terrace’s Casey Finnicum (171) also won their respective divisions.

Garton (15-2) recorded three straight pins on his way to the 215 crown. He beat Franklin Pierce’s Adam Fujiura at the 3:18 mark in a first-round match, took care of Granite Falls’ Karl Richter in 2:56 in the semifinals and then beat Woodinville’s James McCurry in 1:38 in the finals.

“He (McCurry) fought really hard,” Garton said. “I got him over and got him on his back and that’s basically how it ended.”

Up next for Garton is this weekend’s Bainbridge Invitational, which should provide plenty of tough competition.

“State’s my goal and right now it’s going good,” Garton said. “I’m on that road to going to state.”

Teammate Cramer pinned Woodinville’s Brandon Mooney at the 2:36 mark in the 189 finals. Cramer opened with a 19-5 win over Franklin Pierce’s Ethan Shackelford and then pinned Granite Falls’ Zach Jones in 43 seconds in the semifinals.

The finals was a tough match for Cramer, who pinned Mooney with a countermove.

“He went down to take a shot at me,” Cramer said. “At first it seemed like I was in trouble. I just reached around him and got across his face and squeezed as hard as I could.”

Cramer (11-3) eventually executed a cradle move and was able to record the pin.

For Cramer, the season started out rough but has improved.

“I’ve gradually been doing a lot better,” Cramer said. “I’ve been stepping up my game a lot.”

As a Meadowdale captain, Cramer tries to make sure he and his teammates are working hard in practice.

“I really focused on having a good mentality before you go into a match, wrestling tough and being a good sport,” Cramer said. “I’m really focused on what I want and where I can see myself going.”

Finnicum (18-2) opened with a pin over Lynnwood’s Jordan Ingalls at the 1:43 mark and then posted a 13-2 decision over Franklin Pierce’s Dwayne McCarver. He then pinned Woodinville’s Wes Havran at 4:31. Finnicum was dominating the match and had a 10-3 lead.

“I felt I had a pretty good handle on the match,” said Finnicum, who placed seventh at last season’s Class 4A state tournament.

The Mountlake Terrace standout was coming off a third-place finish at the Pacific Coast Championships. Finnicum battled back from a first-round loss, eventually defeating the wrestler who beat him.

“I was pretty happy about that,” Finnicum said. “Eight matches in two days. It was pretty intense.”

Finnicum is approaching each tournament and match as an opportunity to learn.

“That’s pretty much my motto this year — learn from every match,” Finnicum said.

Mountlake Terrace senior Jon Floresca, who finished second in the 119 division, was the recipient of the Mike Hess Sportsmanship Award.