TACOMA — Jackson’s Harrison Warner staged a major comeback but still came up short in his final high school wrestling match at Mat Classic XVIII.
Warner fell behind 6-0 to Emerald Ridge’s T.J. Smith in a Class 4A state loser-out 215-pound match before rallying for six straight points to tie the score as the two headed for the third period.
Smith then recorded a takedown and held on for an 8-6 victory over Warner Feb. 17 at the Tacoma Dome.
“One of his goals was to come to state,” Jackson coach Gustavo Anaya said of Warner. “Once we got here our goals changed a little bit. We wanted to try and come home with a placing. It didn’t work out that way. He’s handling it really well.”
Warner fell behind 6-0 in the first round but then seized the momentum in the second with six unanswered points and in the process nearly pinned Smith
“He put the kid on his back and almost had the pin,” Anaya said.
But the official called a halt to the action for a Smith injury. The break enabled Smith to regroup and he survived the second round.
In his first-round match, Warner dropped a 7-0 decision to Bethel’s Jeremy Williams.
Warner was the fourth Jackson wrestler in school history to advance to the state tournament.
“He wrestled his heart out,” Anaya said. “That’s all you can ask for.”
Warner’s appearance at state will help to inspire some of his teammates, many of whom made the trip down to the Tacoma Dome.
“It’s really good for the program,” Anaya said. “The young kids, freshmen and sophomores got to see somebody make it to state … I think that’s just the beginning.”
Jackson also had three wrestlers participate in the girls invitational, which featured 156 athletes from about 80 teams. The participants were divided into 39 groups of four and wrestled in a round-robin format.
Two Timberwolves — Tara Miller and Tawneyrae Richards — finished first in their respective groups. Miller defeated Bethel’s Cady Chambers 15-6 and then edged Sedro-Woolley’s Kendra Wilson 6-4. Miller won her third match via an injury default.
Richards recorded three pins over Mary Walker’s Claudia Laukean (0:56), White River’s Shantel Allstot (1:28) and Kalama’s Jasha Lottin (3:01).
Teammate Kelly Meakins took third place in her group. Meakins pinned Franklin’s Sandy Nguyen at 2:34 and then was pinned by Mount Baker’s Areca Phy at 2:45. Meakins lost her third match by a pin at 4:14 to Aberdeen’s Rachel Akerlund.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association has plans to offer a full-scale girls state tournament next year, according to WIAA assistant executive director Jim Meyerhoff.
This was the third year the girls exhibition tournament has been staged at Mat Classic.
Other teams from the area that had participants included Lynnwood, Arlington, Darrington, Kamiak, Lakewood and Oak Harbor.
Herald writer Mike Cane contributed to this story.
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