Mat Classic

It was a good day to be odd.

Six of the 12 wrestlers representing Mason County high schools at Mat Classic XXXIV on Friday and Saturday at the Tacoma Dome earned odd-number state placings, signifying they won their final match of the tournament.

Shelton High School's EliBeth Cervantes and North Mason High School's Sadie Evans bounced back from singular defeats to finish with the bronze medal.

The Bulldogs' Jake Mathews and Pedro Salvador finished fifth and Shelton's Logan Peach and Mario Boxley finished seventh.

Cervantes and Mathews, who were both subregional and regional champions, advanced to the semifinals before falling to the eventual state champion of their weight classes.

"I was super excited about the weekend," Shelton girls coach Rodgar Garrick wrote in an email. "Eli's opponent in the semifinal was very good. It takes a lot of mental toughness to take a big loss and then come back and take third. Eli is one of the best at it. She knows she will be in that spot again. She will be better."

Cervantes, competing at 145 pounds, pinned South Whidbey's Kaylie Baker in the quarterfinals in just 26 seconds, but was defeated on a technical fall by Royal's Alondra Morales in the semifinals. Morales, the defending state champion at 140, went on to win the weight class.

Cervantes pinned Granger's Sonia Mendoza early in the third period to advance to the third-place match, then pinned Blaine's Lucyanna Dahl in the middle of the second period. Cervantes, a sophomore making her second state appearance for the Highclimbers' went 10-1 in the postseason and became the first Shelton girls wrestler to finish in the top three since Quinn Lacy in 2018.

Evans defeated Tonasket's Jacie Deebach with a third-period pin to earn a third-place finish at 155 pounds. The win avenged Evans' only loss of Mat Classic as Deebach topped her during a quarterfinal bout with a first-period pin.

Evans opened the tournament with a first-period pin of Tenino's Dakota Lees and then earned consolation victories over Prosser's Selena Martinez, Mount Baker's Sydney VanBrocklin and Columbia's Jessica Polkinghorn to get into the third-place match.

Evans, who finished her sophomore season 31-4, pinned three of her final four opponents and defeated VanBrocklin with a 6-1 decision.

North Mason's Jake Mathews capped a 33-3 senior season with a second-period pin of Columbia River's Gage Newman in the 152-pound fifth-place match.

Mathews defeated Clarkston's Braydon Flinders with a first-period pin to open Mat Classic, then edged Anacortes' James Friedrichs 7-5 in an intensely close quarterfinal bout. Mathews was pinned by Ellensburg's Francisco Ayala early in the third period of a semifinal. Ayala went on to win the 152-pound title.

Salvador, competing at 145 pounds, defeated Aberdeen's Aiden Watkins with a sudden-victory takedown just eight seconds into the extra period to open the tournament before falling to Pullman's Ivan Acosta on a 9-0 major decision in the quarterfinals.

Salvador finished the meet winning three of his next four bouts, capped with a first-period pin of White River's Caleb Dale in the fifth-place match.

Peach opened his Mat Classic run at 132 pounds with a sudden-

victory takedown of Enunclaw's Caleb Grantham before falling to Burlington-Edison's Chase Weber on an 11-2 major decision. Peach bounced back with a 4-3 decision over Anacortes' Syler Swain to earn a spot in Saturday's action.

Peach lost in sudden victory to Orting's Brock Armstrong and then defeated Lakewood's Taylor Brock 6-5 to finish seventh.

Boxley fell to Ellensburg's Breck Hammond in his opening 170-pound match, but won three of his next four bouts to finish seventh. Boxley defeated Shadle Park's Braden Burgener 10-4 in the seventh-place match.

Shelton sent seven to Mat Classic for the first time since 1977, and despite just two finishing with places, Highclimber coach Chris Lacy felt his wrestlers competed at a high level. Six of the seven won at least one bout.

"We had some tough draws," Lacy said. "This happens when finishing second or fourth at regionals, which all our wrestlers did. Logan Peach wrestled five competitive matches and in all three of his victories, he overcame a deficit to finish seventh. Mario Boxley was able to wrestle back to seventh after losing his first match. It was great to see him end his Highclimber career with a win."

Author Bio

Justin Johnson, Editor

Shelton-Mason County Journal & Belfair Herald
Email: editor@masoncounty.com