Terrace’s Finnicum moves up to 171 pounds

Mountlake Terrace junior wrestler Casey Finnicum wasted little time making a name for himself in the 160-pound weight class.

As a freshman, Finnicum competed mostly against older and more experienced wrestlers, butstill won the district and regional tournaments and finished sixth at the state wrestling meet.

This past year, he won the district tournament, finished second at regionals and placed seventh at the state meet.

This year, Finnicum will continue his pursuit of a state championship in a different weight class, bulking up 11 pounds to wrestle at 171 pounds.

“I also played football at Terrace so I got up to about 185 pounds,” Finnicum said. “I just didn’t want to have to get back down to 160 pounds. And the 171-pound class is better suited for me anyway. I don’t think it will be much of a difference. The guys are quicker and stronger at 171, but I’ve been working out a lot and so I’ll still be competitive.”

So far this season, Finnicum has won seven of eight bouts, including a pin he registered just 40 seconds into the first round against Kamiak.

“Casey just loves to compete, and he loves the individuality of the sport,” Mountlake Terrace coach Kanoe Vierra said. “He’s very easy to coach and that isn’t always the case, but sometimes you get a kid who has incredible drive, who listens to what we have to say and is always looking to improve himself. That’s Casey.”

Despite losing five players to graduation, three of whom made regular visits to the regional tournament in Cody Cendry at 152 pounds, Josh Carey (215) and Dan Miyasato (275), the Hawks return senior leader Jon Floresca at 119 pounds and junior Nate Daling at 140. Floresca, who made a brief appearance at regionals last season, serves as an extra set of eyes and is a consistent role model for the team’s younger wrestlers, according to Vierra.

“Nate gives you great consistency night in and night out,” said Vierra, who entering his 10th season as head coach for the Hawks. “As for Jon, he’s a really good leader. It’s like having another coach on the floor. He also brings an extra set of eyes on the bench. He’s very smart as well, both on the mat and in the classroom.”

Impressively, Mountlake Terrace has won five straight team academic awards, and eight of the last nine.

Similar to Mountlake Terrace, fellow Edmonds District foe Edmonds-Woodway has also lost a few solid contributors from last season. Jeremy Pautler, at 152 pounds and Riley Stannard at 275 both finished their senior year by making it to the state meet.

However, Warriors’ coach Mike Hanchett still has five seniors returning to the team, including the twins, David and Bradley Alfi. Both are four-year starters, David at 140 pounds and Bradley competing in the 145-pound weight class.

“They (the twins) are practically interchangeable,” Hanchett said. “On any given day, you’d get the same performance from either of them. They are very competitive and well-studied.”

Also headlining the Warriors’ roster is senior Adrian Sierse at 152 pounds and junior Matthew Toma (135). According to Hanchett, Sierse is reminiscent of former standout Warrior Jeremy Pautler.

“He’s very similar to Jeremy (Pautler). He has great balance and he can recover and understand any position he’s in while keeping control. It’s an innate ability.”

Of the 35 wrestlers on the roster, the Warriors are carrying nine freshmen and 13 sophomores, including the youngest of the three Alfis, sophomore Steven Alfi at 110 pounds and Sandy Nguyen, the team’s lone female at 103 pounds.

Hanchett said: “Last year, Sandy won a handful of matches and this year, she’s looking pretty good. At a recent tournament, she collected her third pin of the season. She is becoming a well-respected wrestler in a not-so easy sport.”

As a class 3A school playing a 4A schedule, Meadowdale is looking at a middle-of-the-pack finish, according to coach Brian Boardman. The Mavericks, who lost just a few wrestlers from last year’s team, have 18 freshmen and 12 sophomores on their roster.

“I have a good group of kids, and a huge underclassmen presence,” Boardman said.

The Mavericks’ core of experience lies with junior captain Nick Montanari at 171 pounds, and seniors Lane Jennings (160), Travis Cramer (189) and Wes Barton (215).

So far this season, Montanari has pinned each of his seven opponents to lead Meadowdale followed by Barton, who’s undefeated at 5-0 entering this week and Jennings who has won five of his past seven matches.

Boardman also has a few bright up and coming stars in sophomore Christian Adams (119) and freshman David Sanchez (125), who has a record of 6-2.

“They are doing incredible,” Boardman said. “They are both very hard workers and we are excited about their progress.”

Lynnwood, another 3A team, has for the first time in at least the past five seasons more than one wrestler at each weight class. For third-year coach Carl Wilkins, that’s huge.

“This is a unique situation for us,” Wilkins said. “It gives us choices. We haven’t had two kids at every weight for sometime. It improves our ability to compete in matches that we had to forfeit last season.”

Aside from losing just two wrestlers from last season, the Royals are fielding not just a bigger squad in size, but an experienced one as well. Returning are seniors Taneal Detschman (112), Cody Mason (112), Blake Forest (150), Josh Miller (135) and Ryan Crow (275).

Miller and Mason both made the regional tournament last season. Miller fell one match short of making the state tournament and Mason finished fourth in regionals.