East Valley qualifies eight for state meet

East Valley advanced eight wrestlers, six of them finalists, to next weekend’s Mat Classic XXI State 3A wrestling tournament in Tacoma by winning the 3A regional Saturday in Sunnyside.

The Knights edged Sedro Woolley 1691/2-168 points for the team title.

Returning state placers Dakota Lawson (189 pounds) and Chris Tripplet (145), plus freshman Nick Sweeney (103) won their weight classes for EV.

Sweeney won 5-3 in overtime of his final. Lawson won twice by pin and once by technical fall. Tripplet won by pin, decision and injury default.

The Rodriguez brothers, Gabe (130) and Jake (152), each finished second for the Knights, as did Nic Price (160).

North Central advanced five, including 285-pound champion Steve Taylor and finalists Nathan Brown (112) and Ben Carter (171).

Rogers’ Vang Lor was the 119-pound champion with two- and one-point wins.

Regional 2A

Dominant in the upper weights, Great Northern League schools had 16 of 28 finalists, won nine of 14 championships and advanced a total of 35 wrestlers to state from the meet Ellensburg.

Defending state champion Deer Park won the team title with 200 points and qualified nine wrestlers to state. The Stags nipped Riverside, which finished with 191.5 and advances 10. Clarkston finished third with 139 points.

West Valley’s Quinn Gannon won the first GNL championship at 130 and the local league captured the final eight.

Deer Park won four – Brandon Leliefeld 3-1 over Riverside’s Chase Florez at 145; Cody Miller over Clarkston’s Zane Earl by pin at 152; Ethan Grable 6-5 at 215; and Shawn Burton by pin at 285.

Other champions were Clarkston’s Matt Powell, who pinned Deer Park’s Billy Rhoads at 140; Gabe Hocum, who topped Riverside’s Nick DesRoches 7-2 at 171; and Nick King, who won 4-1 at 189. Riverside’s Jacob DesRoches beat Clarkston’s DJ Darnall at 160 to lead a GNL 1-2-3-4 finish.

Regional 1A

Host Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) had five champions and qualified seven to lead Northeast A League wrestlers to state next weekend.

Brothers Michael and Bryan Baumgarden (112 and 119, respectively), and Jacob and Josh Lauderdale (125 and 130) won championships, as did Ben Fuson (285) for the Eagles.

The Eagles finished second to Omak, 1871/2 to 1791/2.

Other NEA champions were Kettle Falls’ Kevin Schernitzki (103) and Newport’s Daniel Swain (135).

Regional B

The Kittitas Coyotes (2091/2) outscored Reardan (186) and Republic (1771/2) during regional competition at Reardan.

Defending state champion Republic, however, had five individual champions out of six finalists. Kittitas had two champs and three second-place finishers. Republic state champs Ryn Rollins (125), JJ Gubler (140) and Scotty Bacon (145) all captured regional titles. State runner-up Levi Larson (119) and freshman Kyle Kirkendall (103) were other district champs and Austin Rollins was second at 130.

Springdale’s Alex Kalugin beat Reardan’s Chris Pence at 152. Conan Kalugin was second to Rollins at 125.

Raleigh Beckstrom of Reardan won at 171.