Champ Lakeside wrings maximum effort out of six

TACOMA – To win its fourth state championship in the last eight years, Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls needed a little jump-start.

The Eagles got it in the first match of Saturday when 103-pound freshman Kyle Johnson turned a 7-3 deficit into a pin during his semifinal match.

John Millard finished the day at 160 with a pin in the title match, leading Lakeside to 99 1/2 points and a State 2A championship at Mat Classic XVII in the Tacoma Dome.

Newport finished second in the 1A/B tournament, its best finish in school history, with 112 1/2 points, 30 behind Warden, which ran its state title streak to four straight years.

But Lakeside, which only brought six wrestlers to Tacoma, couldn’t have won the tournament without a strong performance out of every one. Johnson’s turnaround in the semifinals was absolutely necessary.

“That was great,” Lakeside coach Scott Jones said of Johnson’s pin. “I think that really started us out right, with the right spirit. Even if he’s down, he’s going to stay in the match. It’s great to have that in a freshman.”

Sandwiched in between Johnson’s win and Millard’s pin were an eighth-place finish by 189-pounder Kahel Smith, a third-place effort by 145-pounder Matt Dinsmore, and two state-championship losses.

Johnson fell in the final at 103 when Orting’s Tony Farrington scored a late takedown to win 9-8. In the 125-pound final, junior Levi Jones, Scott’s son, lost to Stevenson’s J.D. Goodrich 5-4.

Jones was down early and clawed back to a 4-3 deficit before Goodrich, defending champion at 112, where he beat Jones in the championship last year, scored an escape point to take a two-point lead. The insurance was necessary when Jones picked up a point on a Goodrich stall, but Jones couldn’t get the final tying point. The win capped two straight perfect seasons for Goodrich.

Millard’s pin at 160 wasn’t necessary for the team win, but it did boost the Eagles’ morale after two title losses.

“We needed that to make sure we could celebrate,” Jones said.

Millard wrestled Hoquiam’s Spencer Sharp to a draw through one period, and fell behind briefly before a takedown, followed by a pin as the second period drew to a close.

“It was more of a personal thing,” Millard said. “I knew we already had the team title wrapped up. I had wrestled him twice before and won on decisions. This time he just broke.”

Colville had two in the upper-weight finals, but had no state titles.

Nick Mahugh lost at 215 by pin to Tim Gaston of La Center. Robby Hall was toppled at 275 in a 7-0 decision to Omak’s Jake Byl.

1A/B

After Newport’s Clinton Teeples sewed up the 152-pound title with a lightning-quick, 57-second pin of Liberty Bell’s Beau Stevie, he didn’t need much to explain the Grizzlies’ success.

“It’s that guy,” Teeples said, pointing at Newport coach Terry Haney. “We got this guy here. It’s the best thing that could have happened to us.”

Teeples joined Newport’s Jared Skiles (160) atop his weight class. Skiles posted an 11-10 win over Rainier’s Logan Bowles, fourth at 160 last year. Newport also got a second-place finish out of Eric Moody (112), who ran into Freeman’s Daniel Mathews.

Mathews scored a second-period pin of Moody to improve upon a third-place finish at 103 last year.

“I didn’t do anything different,” Mathews said of another meeting with Northeast A foe Moody. “I’ve got a great coach, and I got to train with (2004 103-pound state champion) Penn (Brownlee) last year. It’s just great right now.”

Liberty’s Brice Williams won at 119, a year after finishing second at 112.

“I tried to just be myself,” Williams said of his second-period pin. “When I wrestle my match, no one can beat me. I just had to stay in the zone and keep my focus.”

Seth Schertenleib of Republic pulled a minor upset at 145, knocking off defending 140-pound champion Maverick Port of Liberty Bell.

With a 4-2 lead in the third period, Schertenleib threw Port onto his shoulders and held on for the pin.

“It was a lot of strategy,” said Schertenleib, who finished third at 140 last year. “I was almost there last year, and I knew that this year, if I stuck with the plan, I’d win.”

Colfax had two champions and a runner-up, with Jeff Jordan winning at 125, Derek Hall coming up short at 135 and Josh Campbell winning 3-1 at 171 in front of his teary-eyed brother Charles, who finished second last year at 135 in his senior season.

“We’ve never had three kids in the finals, and we’ve never had two state champions in a row,” Colfax head coach Casey Jones said. “They come from a long line of wrestling families, and getting beat up every night.”

Springdale heavyweight Mic Goad, winner of the Tri-State Tournament earlier in the year, was upset by Royal’s J.R. Hernandez 10-7 in the semifinals, thwarting his attempt to repeat as heavyweight champion.