Six Wildcat wrestlers traveled to Tacoma on Thursday, Feb. 18, to compete in the 2016 Mat Classic state wrestling tournament. After strong showings at the sub-regional and regional tournament, hopes were high that the Cats would bring home some hardware.
Competition at the state tournament was as fierce as ever, with wins and losses proving to be as unpredictable as ever.
Wrestling action started Friday morning with winners moving to the semi-finals and losers dropping to the consolation bracket.
For 2016, the 1B/2B bracket was expanded from eight entrants to twelve. The top four wrestlers from three regions around the state filled spots on the sixteen man brackets, with the four empty lines entered as byes.
The regional champions in each bracket drew byes in the first round, with the fourth bye going to one of the number two seeds. For the Wildcats, this meant that seniors Cole Rutzer and Daniel Helman, junior Kaleb Orton and sophomore Hayden Hoff each received a bye in the first round of action.
Friday first round
First round action in the 132lb weight class had Ocosta junior Sam Quinby going toe to toe with his opponent, Graham Rocha of Northwest Christian in Spokane. Quinby took the match into the third round but fell short with a 6-2 loss.
In the 152 pound class, junior Matthew Hart’s first match was against Jalen Moses from Okanogan. Hart wrestled tough for three rounds, but Moses edged him out with a 7-4 decision.
Friday second round
Friday’s second round matches opened with the championship quarter-finals and Cole Rutzer wrestling Gerardo Rios-Lopez of Kittitas. The match was close all the way, but Rutzer ended up on the short end of a 12-9 loss.
Next up for the Cats was Kaleb Orton at 120 lbs. Orton dropped a 6-0 decision to Duwayne Magruder of Kittitas.
Hayden Hoff’s opponent was Austin Warren of Okanogan. The two went back and forth, but Warren secured the fall in the first minute of the third period.
Daniel Helman stepped onto the mat against Isaac Velasquez of Mabton in his first bout. Helman scored the first and only points of the match with a takedown in the first round. From there it was a battle to the buzzer and Helman was able to hold Valesquez off for the 2-0 victory and advancement to the semi-finals.
Consolation matches
One of the most difficult things to do in a tournament like state is to come back through the consolation bracket and win a medal. In the consolation quarter finals, winners would move on and losers would be out of the tournament.
Cole Rutzer wrestled first against Devin Walton of Tonasket. Scoring was back and forth throughout the entire match, with several lead changes. In the end, Rutzer fell short in an 8-6 loss and see his state medal hopes come to an end.
Kaleb Orton wrestled next, and moved forward in the consolation bracket with a 15-5 victory over Jesse Payne of Friday Harbor.
Sam Quinby needed to beat Matthew Slape of Adna to keep his tourney alive. The two met a week earlier in the Regional Semis with Slape getting the win. Unfortunately for Quinby, the outcome in this match was the same and Slape won with a third round pin.
Matthew Hart was looking for his first state win against Jack Kaino of Ilwaco. Kaino had Hart’s number from the start and Hart’s tourney came to an end in the second period of the match.
Hayden Hoff faced off against Elijah Adams of LaConner. Hoff had beaten Adams at the Regional tournament 7-6 in the semi-finals, and needed a repeat to stay alive at state. He did so in fine fashion, this time pinning Adams in the second period.
Saturday matches
Saturday morning started early with an 8 a.m. weigh-in for the three remaining Wildcats. Two hours later, Kaleb Orton took the mat against Justin Volking of Kettle Falls. Orton worked the match late into the second period, but Volking caught him in a fall and brought an end to his run.
Hayden Hoff needed one more win to have a chance at a state medal. He faced Austin Olsen of Wilber-Creston in the loser out, winner medal match. Both wrestlers wanted the state hardware bad, but Hoff wanted it just a bit more and edged Olsen out with a 7-5 decision. The win gave him a chance of placing at least sixth and as high as third.
In his champion semi-final match, Daniel Helman came up against Tristan Newman of Waitsburg-Prescott. Newman used all of his 285 lb. size to try and best Helman, but this one would go to the Wildcat senior. Helman secured a trip to the state finals with a pin near the end of the second period.
Hoff earns 6th
There is no time to relax for wrestlers in the consolation bracket. Almost to the minute after his mandatory 45-minute rest period, Hayden Hoff was back on the mat against Winlock’s Seth Lindsey. In another finals rematch from regional tournament, Hoff improved his performance against Lindsey, taking him into the third period. Lindsey won the match.
That sent Hoff into the fifth/sixth medal match. Hoff drew Austin Warren for the second time in the tournament, and the outcome was similar to their first meeting. Warren won the match, putting Hoff in sixth place in his first appearance at the state tournament.
Helman 2nd
The last match of the tournament for the Wildcats and one of the final matches of the 2016 Mat Classic featured Daniel Helman against Mikey Hernandez of Warden. Hernandez, who placed third at the 2015 Championships, had been ranked all season and was favored in the final.
Helman worked for a takedown early in the first period but Hernandez managed to score first. Taking advantage of his momentum, Hernandez ran the score up to 9-1.
Helman came back in the third period and brought the match to 11-5, with a chance of pinning Hernandez as the clock ran down. At one point he was less than an inch away from a state title, but there was not enough time on the clock, and the final score was 11-8.
Helman finished his Wildcat Wrestling career as a state finalist, and the second place medal would be his.
Junior Kalvyn Scott and senior Byron Hongell weighed in Friday morning as alternates, but did not have an opportunity to wrestle in the tournament.
Long journey
The State Tournament is the culmination of a long journey that began back in November. For some it ends a season; for our seniors, it brings a close to their high school wrestling career.
The wrestlers, coaches and parents put in many hours of practice, logged many miles of travel and spent long days in gyms getting to this point. We have shared victories, defeats, sweat, blood and tears. Their wrestling experience has given them tools that they will be able to use for the rest of their lives.
Measuring success
It is important that we measure their success not by the awards won, but by how they have grown as young adults. I appreciate the opportunity to be their coach, and I am proud of everything our wrestlers have accomplished.
I would like to thank all the people who have contributed to our 2015-2016 wrestling season. Thanks to parents, family, friends, school staff and administration and Wildcat fans. It truly takes a team effort to do what we do.