Stags cruise to 2A title

TACOMA – There are no presumptions when you talk with Deer Park head coach Matt Jorgensen. As strong as the Stags were, in past conversations there was never a hint he thought they were a lock to win a second straight State 2A championship at Mat Classic XXI.

Yet this year’s version, with seven returning state placers – two of them champions a year ago – was even more dominant than the previous one, surprising even Jorgensen.

Six Stags finalists stepped on the mat and their individual championships produced another team title Saturday at the Tacoma Dome. The Stags scored a 2A-record 184.5 points to W.F. West’s 95.5 in winning those half-dozen championships

Jorgensen said he wasn’t comfortable, even after Deer Park took a near 20-point first-day lead.

“I wasn’t this morning, until after the semifinals,” he said. “They wrestled out of their minds. Six for six is pretty impressive. I don’t know if it’s been done before. We figured on contending and that we were favored, but this is a total surprise. I didn’t see this coming.”

If 6 for 6 in the semis hasn’t been done before, then certainly six straight individual titles hasn’t either.

DP’s championship total was one more than Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) recorded last year.

The success began with Blake Adams at 112 pounds and ended with Shawn Burton at 285. Drew Acorn, at 119, and Cody Miller, at 152, each won for the second straight year.

After opening a comfortable first-day lead, DP nearly doubled the lead in the morning. The finalists didn’t let up, nor did two wrestlers who came through consolations to place.

“Every year our goal is to rule here and make it all worth it,” Jorgensen said. “It’s fun is what it is, but it’s a lot of hard work.”

Adams, third last year, compiled a 34-6 record this year. He scored in every period for a methodical 6-1 victory, coming off anterior cruciate ligament surgery

He said without the ACL, wrestling last year was scary.

“I felt the knee was always wanting to give out,” he said.

This year, following surgery, he wasn’t cleared to compete until near the start of the season and needed to get his conditioning back. A state title was the reward.

Acorn was far from methodical in his approach to the 119 title in a match between aggressive athletes. He had been pinned in 30 seconds a week earlier by Toppenish’s Julian Romero. This weekend he returned the favor with a sudden move in the second round.

Jorgensen had worked to make him more methodical and he struggled with his commitment to the sport. But once his coach turned him loose to “go big” – make risky moves for huge rewards – Acorn responded.

“I like to try different things that aren’t really moves, but they work for me,” he said. “I try to catch my opponents out of position.”

Billy Rhoads at 140 (7-3), Brandon Leliefeld at 145, Miller and Burton at 285 added the other championships.

“The kids just wrestled,” Jorgensen said of the second straight title. “Awesome kids make coaching pretty easy.”

West Valley’s Quinn Gannon would argue that good coaching makes a champion.

The 130-pound junior, in his first state appearance, upset two-time champion Nick Burnham of Black Hills 7-3 thanks to a new coach, new style and new attitude.

All of his scoring came in the third period. Five of the points, including a takedown and near fall, came in the final 33 seconds.

Former North Idaho College and Central Valley coach John Owen took over for the Eagles this summer.

“He switched my stance, gave me new shots and taught me to tie up,” Gannon said. “He broke me down and rebuilt me into a state champion.”

The Great Northern League’s other champion was Clarkston’s Gabe Hocum at 171. Riverside, with five placers, including third-place finishing brothers Jacob and Nick DesRoches, placed fourth for the second straight year with 78 points.