Ben Alford of Northwest Christian captures State 2B/1B wrestling title

TACOMA – Ben Alford will be one of Northwest Christian’s valedictorians this spring.

He will graduate with a 4.0 grade-point average. And he’ll leave Colbert as the Crusaders’ first state wrestling champion.

Alford got a pin at the 4:10 mark in the 160-pound State 2B/1B final Saturday as Mat Classic concluded at the Tacoma Dome.

Moments after winning, he did a celebratory flip. The referee deducted a team point.

Since Alford was NWC’s lone state qualifier, coach Pete Kopplin had no problem with Alford’s spontaneous reaction.

“I told him he could celebrate anyway he wanted,” Kopplin said.

Alford, ever the polite young man, said had he known it was illegal he wouldn’t have done the flip.

“I wouldn’t be here without everyone around me,” Alford said.

Then he took a moment to mention the person he most wanted to dedicate his victory to – Jace Malek of West Valley, who was diagnosed two weeks ago with cancer.

“I’m just glad for Jace,” Alford said.

Alford set up the pin with a lateral drop.

“I learned it in Greco-Roman,” Alford said. “Sometimes I’ve lost because of I’ve used it at the wrong time, but that was the right time. You can feel when it’s the right time.”

Justin Chantry of Selkirk defended a state title, winning 8-2 at 113 pounds.

He wore a black protective mask – thanks to an elbow that landed on his nose in the semifinals on Friday.

“It’s broke,” Chantry said.

Chantry wants to win a third title next year.

“You’ve got to work hard if you want to make it here,” Chantry said. “This feeling is like none other. It’s just as great as the first one.”

Republic’s Blake Phillips (170) and Lucas Rittel (182) repeated as state champions.

Phillips scored a 7-1 victory and Rittel used a pin.

Warden captured the team title with 118.5 points and Reardan took second with 72. Republic finished fifth with 46.