University assured nine of its wrestlers will stand tall today

TACOMA – One day into Mat Classic XVII in the Tacoma Dome, University’s 10-wrestler contingent is on track for its date with destiny.

Nine of the 10 are wrestling today, placers assured to stand atop the awards podium. All 10 scored to give the Titans (66 1/2 points) an 18 1/2 -point lead over Auburn, with Lake Stevens a shade back at 46 points.

Five Titans have reached today’s semifinals of the State 4A meet in hopes of wrestling for individual championship glory.

Auburn and Lake Stevens have four finalists each. But Auburn has only two other wrestlers competing and Lake Stevens but one.

“A couple kids rose to the top when we needed them to,” said U-Hi coach Don Owen of his strong first-day showing.

Titans Matt Machala at 130 pounds and Joey Korn (189) reached today’s semifinals when a couple of others, Jeremy Montang and Nick Zumwalt, tasted heartbreak.

Montang lost 4-0 to Auburn’s Kurt Swartz in a match between third-place state finishers a year ago at 140.

Zumwalt fell behind early and ran out of time on a last-ditch takedown attempt, losing 5-4 in his 160-pound second-round match. Both Titans, however, won in consolations and could finish as high as third.

“Jeremy had a tough draw at 140, but he’ll have to regroup,” said Owen.

“We can absorb the shock because of the efforts of a couple of kids.”

Machala has wrestled in the shadow of other U-Hi wrestlers within his weight range, but he came up huge. He won by pin in his opener and 8-5 over Auburn Riverside freshman Eric Jones in the second round.

Korn, a scholar-athlete who has come miles during his four-year career, continued to wrestle the solid-if-unspectacular style that earned him a regional title last week, posting 9-3 and 2-1 decisions at 189.

Those were just some of the highlights of the Titans’ dynamite start.

The Titans won 11 of their first 13 matches, with 103-pound freshman Brian Owen beating Whitney Conder in a match that drew a lot of interest.

Conder became the first female wrestler to reach state in Class 4A and she will medal today.

Another female will medal at a lower classification, an unprecedented feat at Mat Classic.

Owen won by technical fall, but Conder took him to the match’s final second.

“I wrestled her in freestyle,” said Owen afterward. “It could have been a different one.”

He said he found the experience strange.

“It’s not very fun, is what it is,” Owen said.

At about the same time, Chase Fish was polishing off Mountain View’s Josh Garza for his second pin of the tournament at 112.

Fish was on the verge of losing his opener before coming through as time was running out.

“It was a terrible match. I don’t think I was hydrated properly,” Fish said.

The second match was a different story.

“It was a match I was looking forward to,” he said. “(Garza) was undefeated. It was a big hurdle.”

His brother, Cory Fish, also pinned twice to reach the 119-pound semifinals as he chases a second state title. U-Hi had won eight of 10 first-round matches and could have swept. In a 145-pound disaster, Tyler Goss was leading 9-2 but got pinned. Tim Owen had some tough scoring luck, but was still 30 seconds away from victory before giving up a match-tying reversal and losing in overtime.

Both Goss and Tim Owen bounced back with a pair of victories.

Today, U-Hi’s nine placers will try to add more points and keep challenging Auburn and Lake Stevens at bay.

“We’re in deep in a couple of weights,” Don Owen said. “We need to scrap for every point and dig down and find scoring. When all is said and done, it’s tight and we need to separate ourselves now.”

Other GSL semifinalists are Central Valley’s Garrett McCoy, who wrestles Cory Fish when the semifinals begin at 10 a.m.; CV’s Lucas Chesher at 125; and defending 140-pound champ Kyle Yonago of Ferris, who won in overtime to advance.

Championship matches are set to begin at 5 p.m.