Coming off a disappointing fourth place finish at districts, Lynnwood’s Hunter Lord took a hard look at his preparation for the postseason.
Lord admitted he simply didn’t prepare well for districts. He didn’t make that mistake twice.
A refocused Lord rallied late in the third round to pull out a 15-14 victory over Oak Harbor’s Joshua Crebbin in the 152-pound finals at the 3A Region 1 tournament at Skyline High School.
The victory earned Lord a trip to the Tacoma Dome for the first time. He was an alternate last year.
“I feel good,” Lord said. “Hard work paid off.”
The final minute of the championship match provided plenty of thrills.
“It was a great match,” Lord said. “There were a lot of turns and a lot of reversals. Points were flying like crazy. At the last second I pulled it off. I got a reversal and two near falls. That put me up by one.”
Lord is looking forward to wrestling at the Tacoma Dome. The opening round starts Feb. 17.
“I feel confident. I feel I’m going to do good,” Lord said. “If I’m mentally prepared like I was at regionals, I think I can place in the top five. That’s my goal.”
Also taking home a regional title for the first time was Meadowdale’s Ciaran Ball, who pinned Everett’s Chris Aiwiro in the 195 finals. An illness last year prevented Ball from wrestling in the postseason. He did attend the state championship as a spectator. This year it’ll be quite different.
“It’s a lot to take in,” Ball said of the prospect of wrestling in the Tacoma Dome. “It should be good. I believe I can go all the way. … I’m going to try and take it (state title) as a sophomore. It would be awesome. There’s tough competition.”
Ball said he still needs to work on his conditioning. Ball’s success this season is due in large part to his work with practice partner Tim Smith, who took sixth at 220.
“He gives me a really good workout,” Ball said.
Also advancing to state were Lynnwood’s Alex Basabe (third at 120), Lynnwood’s Zack Calkins (third at 126), Meadowdale’s Morgan Smith (third at 145), Meadowdale’s Nate Tibbott (fourth at 145) and Lynnwood’s Ahmed Ahmed (fourth at 220).
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