If Mountlake Terrace’s Casey Finnicum makes a fourth straight appearance at the state wrestling championships next February, it’ll be as a spectator not as a participant.
Finnicum, who won the Class 4A 171-pound title last season, was planning to move up to 189 this year, but instead he is scheduled to have surgery to fix an ankle injury.
“I’m done for the season,” said Finnicum, after attending the Lynnwood Classic invitational on Dec. 15 at Lynnwood High School.
The Mountlake Terrace senior, who did not wrestle in the tournament, broke his left ankle during a football scrimmage last June. A CAT scan on Dec. 14 indicated that further surgery would be necessary to correct the problem.
Finnicum still has plans to continue wrestling in college, most likely at Cal State Fullerton.
“I’m just going to get my ankle fixed after I take an official trip there,” said Finnicum, who also missed his senior season of football due to the injury. “I had it in my mind that I’m just going to get it taken care of. I feel like it’s the responsible decision. My parents left the decision up to me. I just figure I’d rather fix it and get it 100 percent for college, so I can move on to the next step in my wrestling career.” Finnicum has talked to Cal State Fullerton coach Dan Hicks and likes what he’s heard.
“It sounds like it’s a program I can excel in,” Finnicum said. “They’re an up and coming program. They’re the No. 1 program in the Pac-10 right now.”
Finnicum won’t be on scholarship his freshman year.
“We’ll just see how it works out with money after that,” he said.
The absence of Finnicum means that Lynnwood senior Tanner Detschman is the Edmonds School District’s top returning state placer. Detschman finished seventh in the Class 3A 152-pound division. The experience of having success at the state tournament has given Detschman a boost as he heads into his senior season.
“Last year I came in with full expectations, but I didn’t have a whole lot of confidence,” he said. “I had success but not at the higher level that I wish I had. So after last year going to state and picking up a seventh-place medal, I feel like this year I come in with more confidence in my matches. I go out there ready to start the tempo early and I think I’ve set the tempo throughout the whole year in each of my matches. … I’m putting up those points faster and pinning so much quicker.”
Detschman was one of three Lynnwood wrestlers to take home takes at the Lynnwood Classic. Detschman pinned Redmond’s Carrington Long at the 3-minute, 42-second mark.
“It was nice to go in there and pick up a win,” Detschman said. “I tried to stay in good position. I felt that I didn’t give up too many points today. I’m just trying to improve. I felt today was a good foundation for that.”
As for the rest of the season, Detschman has his eyes on a return trip to the Tacoma Dome and also moving up on the podium.
“I’m looking for a state finals match,” he said. “I’m looking for a title, definitely.”
Also winning titles for the Royal were sophomore Rodson Ubungen (112 pounds), who pinned Grante Falls’ Nick Olander at 1:52 and junior Stephen Takashima (135), who scored a 17-7 decision over Redmond’s Nolan Thomas.
Detschman is one of only two seniors for an extremely young and inexperienced Lynnwood squad. The Royals are struggling to field a complete lineup.
“We have quite a few beginners and freshmen on the team,” Lynnwood head coach Carl Wilkins said. “So they’re going to take their lumps for a while, but they’re all really, really nice kids, good kids to coach and fun to be around. I’d like them to be more successful, but that’ll come with time and they have time to get there.”
It helps to have an experienced wrestler, such as Detschman around, Wilkins added.
“He’s a leader and he works hard,” Wilkins said. “He takes a real interest in the other teammates, which I appreciate a lot as a coach.”
Detschman was encouraged by what he saw from his teammates at the tournament. His teammates work hard in the practice room but have struggled in dual matches and tournaments.
“It seems like when we get out in the matches everything isn’t clicking,” Detschman said. “We haven’t put it all together in one day. … There’s improvement to be made and today was a good start to that.”
Meadowdale walked away with a pair of titles. State returner Nick Montanari (189) pulled out a 3-2 decision over Redmond’s Blake Risenmay and Andrew Parada (130) recorded a pin over Meridian’s Nathan Oliphant at the 2:50 mark. Oliphant, a two-time state participant, was voted the wrestler of the meet.
Montanari’s conditioning paid off in the finals against Risenmay, who was seeded No. 1.
“He started getting tired by the second round and I just played off that and moved into a pace that he couldn’t handle,” Montanari said. “I went to state last year. I have big hopes to go back and do some good things. I’m very hopeful. We have a young team. I look forward to leading them far into districts and regionals.”
Even though the Mavericks were missing three individuals, they finished third overall. Mercer Island took home the team trophy, scoring 181 points to runner-up Redmond, which had 175. Meadowdale scored 163.5 and Lynnwood was fourth 123.5.
“We were missing three of our varsity wrestlers. I think if we had those three, I don’t know why we couldn’t have gotten first,” Meadowdale coach Brian Boardman said.
Mountlake Terrace had a pair of third-place finishes with Nate Dabling (140) and Jace Holmlund (215). Dabling scored a pin over Meadowdale’s Nelson Petrone at 2:07, while Holmlund recorded his fall over Bremerton’s Michael Aguada at 4:05.
Edmonds-Woodway made the trek up north with a depleted roster to attend the Graham Morin Memorial Tournament at Squalicum High School.
The Warriors came away with three top four finishes. Steven Alfi took third at 135, while Andrew Vulliet and Sam Warren finished fourth in the 103 and 119 division, respectively.
It’s been a tough start to the season for Edmonds-Woodway, which was missing five individuals.
“This year has been the worst for people being sick,” Edmonds-Woodway coach Mike Hanchett said. “It made it tough to be competitive. (We) did a great job as a group with who we had.”
The Warriors’ lone state returner, Ruby Johanson (189), was out of the lineup.
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