Ev, CV Go After State Title

Although both East Valley and Central Valley send strong teams to this weekend’s Mat Classic X in Tacoma, neither will be favored.

The Knights, defending state AA champion, have eight state qualifiers and the Bears seven, to lead Valley schools to state.

But the Knights finished second to Moses Lake in 3A regional tournament last weekend and also must contest Lake Stevens and Anacortes, which coach Craig Hanson rates as a contender.

Moses Lake has 12 state entrants, eight of them as either No. 1 or No. 2 seeds. Lake Stevens has nine entrants.

“Lake Stevens was young and has good tournament experience,” said Hanson. “Last year they should have been a top five team, maybe a top three but things just fell apart.”

Anacortes, he said, has five top-notch kids.

Central Valley, which finished second in state in 1996, will face defending champion Evergreen of Vancouver and Tahoma, up a classification from last year, in the 4A tourney. Evergreen has qualified 10 wrestlers and Tahoma 11.

Competition begins at 11 a.m. both Friday and Saturday in the Tacoma Dome and will continue throughout the day.

Hanson was speaking for both teams when the Bears seek their first title and his Knights seek a repeat despite the odds.

“All I can say is I’ve seen it done before,” he said. “Five guys can have a good tournament and win this thing.”

State 4A wrestling

CV won the Region IV team title and has three top seeds in this weekend’s state event.

University High and Gonzaga Prep have two No. 1 seeds apiece.

CV’s regional champions are John Reese, who takes a 21-6 record to state at 122 pounds, Shane Cunanan, who is 31-1 at 129, and Brandon Bouge, who is 29-6 at 215.

Joining them are runnerup Blair Alderman, 26-6 at 168, third placer Courtney Brown, also 168, and fourth placers Brandon Brown, 148, and Mike Easton, 158.

Alderman lost in overtime to Gonzaga Prep’s Travis Pascoe.

Titan top seeds are junior Conor Jordan, 29-6 at 135 pounds, and sophomore Ben Osborn, 17-7 at 141. They are joined by freshman Tommy Owen, who finished third at 101 after losing in overtime in his semifinal.

Gonzaga has seven state qualifiers, including Valley resident Chris Montgomery, now 29-2 in the rugged 115-pound weight class. Last year’s state runner-up is in a bracket that includes two returning state champions.

Valley teammates Sean Malone, who lost by a point to Jordan, and Nick Bliss, 158, finished second.

Another Valley Bullpup, Louis Peyron, finished fourth in regionals.

They are joined by third-placer Paul Koehler, 158, and fourth-placer Kyle Gleason, 178, at Mat Classic X.

State 3A wrestling

East Valley did the expected and West Valley the unexpected to advance a total of 10 wrestlers to state.

The Knights, who won last year’s AA state title, figured to send a veteran squad back to Tacoma.

Eagle interim coach Mike Williams wasn’t sure he’d advance anyone, but juniors Ty Roberts and Justin Demke defied the odds.

Both were No. 5 Region IV entrants and needed to win a “pigtail” match against the Kingco League’s No. 4 qualifiers simply to become part of the eight-wrestler brackets.

From there, Roberts lost his first regional test then won three straight times in consolation to place third at 141 pounds.

Demke, after losing his opener at 148, won by decision and disqualification on the way to a fourth-place finish.

Meanwhile, the Knights were led by Kevin Woolf, 122, and Brad Crockett, 141, who won regional championships.

John Sommer, 101, and Justin Walker, 129, finished second.

Walker, who had handed Prosser’s Andy Soliman his first loss in two years at districts, lost a 5-2 decision.

“It was a weird match,” said Hanson. “Each scored escapes and went into the third period tied 2-2.”

“We’re working on different finishes this week,” said Hanson.

Joining the finalists at state are third-placers Jay Campbell, 135, Rusty Ruchert 168 and junior Chris Dassow, 178. Mike Manuel was fourth at 158.

Dassow was on the verge of a pin in his semifinal, when he was penalized for an illegal hold and his opponent refused to continue complaining of a neck injury. Dassow lost by injury disqualification.

“He accidentally touched his hands jumping to the other side,” said Hanson, contending that his opponent could have continued. “He was just getting beat.”

State A-B wrestling

Led by sophomore Brandon Marchand, four Freeman wrestlers advance to Mat Classic X. Marchand won the 190-pound weight class, getting a pin and technical fall along the way.

Junior Jeff Wigen also reached the finals, finishing second.

Senior Eric Fulkerson was fifth at 135 and sophomore Chris Fulkerson placed sixth at 129 to also advance.

Titan gymnasts prevail

Putting a second-place district effort behind them, the University Titans return to this weekend’s state gymnastics meet.

The Titans had four of the top 10 all-around performers who win Region IV 167.65 to 163.55 over Ferris.

District champion Central Valley was third.

CV’s Emily Roberts won all-around competition, finishing second on vault, third on bars and tied for sixth on floor exercise.

Teammate Lindsay Linerud qualified in floor exercise and vault, tying for fourth in both.

Senior Tara Hulbert, second all-around, Vanessa Cordova, fourth, Coleen Pierce, sixth and Alisa Brandle, tied for seventh, also had strong efforts.

Hulbert won vault and uneven bars. Pierce won balance beam ahead of freshmen Cordova, second, and Brandle, tied for sixth.

Brandle was a top-10 placer in all four events and Cordova in three.

Teammates Allison Ruttler, Kelly Roberts, Meagan Pierce and Kristine McCormick round out the Titan team.

, DataTimes