By JOHN McCALLUM
Editor
Second and third-place performances helped Cheney's wrestling team to its highest overall placement since 2004. The Blackhawks finished with 44 points, good for 14th at Mat Classic XXIV in the Tacoma Dome last weekend.
Cameron Schlotter led the way with second at 195 pounds. The junior pinned North Mason's Chase Davis in the opener and advanced with an 11-3 decision over Chehalis' Gage Rife and 3-0 shutout of top-ranked Caleb O'Halek of Olympic to face Centralia's Dana Squibb in Saturday night's finals.
After a scoreless first round Schlotter opened the second with a reversal for a 2-0 lead, only to have Squibb tie it on a reversal near the end. In the third, Squibb chose down and Schlotter tried to ride him, searching for an opening but ended up letting him up for a one-point escape.
Needing points Schlotter tried to take a late shot, but instead it was Squibb who collected two points for the takedown and eventual state title. Head coach Wade Schlotter said they were trying to get the Blackhawks' junior to release Squibb early in the round in order to have more time to score later, but instead the release was late.
“He got kind of panicked,” Wade Schlotter said. “He took a bad shot instead of taking the time to set up a good one.”
Despite the title loss Schlotter felt it was a good experience for his son, especially since Cameron missed most of last season with a shoulder injury.
“It gave him a little taste and hopefully he'll be hungry for next year,” he added.
Elias Mason was Cheney's other placer, third at 152, the weight class he won a state title in last season. His chances at repeating were impacted last week when he was upset in the regional title match by East Valley's Braydon Berezay.
Berezay got a relatively easy draw in the bottom of the bracket while Mason found himself facing top-ranked favorite Bobby Reece of Kingston in the quarterfinals – what Schlotter felt should really have been a finals matchup.
“Those two kids were by far the best in that weight class,” he said.
In that sense the match didn't disappoint, with likely half the Tacoma Dome watching at one point, Schlotter said. Mason had a 1-0 lead going into the third that should have been larger had the official awarded an apparent takedown earlier.
“They were right on the edge of the mat and while Reece's hands were out of bounds his supporting points and Eli's body were all inbounds,” Schlotter said with frustration in his voice. “It was the wrong call.”
But it helped Reece when the official gave Mason a quick stall warning late that tied the match at one and sent it to overtime where Reece got a takedown for the win.
Some wrestlers might have got down on themselves with the loss, but Mason responded with determination. One hour after losing to Reece, he edged Interlake's Jacob Marks, who he beat last year for the title, 1-0 in the winner-to-place-loser-out match.
Saturday Mason breezed to wins over Sehome's Carson Eiswald (11-1) and Sumner's AJ Atoigue (6-0) to set up a match for third with Centralia's Cole Ricardo, pinning the junior midway through the second round.
“He came back and wanted third,” Schlotter said.
Three of the other four Cheney wrestlers to compete at Mat Classic won matches despite very tough draws.
Senior Trae Martin opened against fourth-ranked Kellen Pelzel of Centralia, losing in a first-round pin to the eventual state runner-up at 145. Martin rebounded with a 4-2 win over Cedarcrest's Austin Koons but lost a 3-1 decision on a late score by North Kitsap's AJ Milyard.
“In that loser out, winner to place match on Friday he wrestled his heart out,” Schlotter said. “It was a really intense match.”
Spenser Rassier faced top-ranked Jeremy Korthuis of Lynden in the first round, losing via fall to the eventual state champion at 182. Rassier beat Aberdeen's David Garcia 4-2 in his first consolation match, but wound up ending his career with a fall to Sehome's Dante Gray.
Senior Josh Maio opened at 195 with a convincing 13-6 decision over Port Angeles Zach Grall, but couldn't sustain the momentum in losing 10-4 in the quarterfinals to Blaine's Caleb Johnson. In consolations Maio lost in a second round fall to Ephrata's Tyrus Kemp.
Sam Pegg was the only Blackhawk not to win a match, losing his opener in a late third round fall to Centralia's Preston Churchill and ending the tournament with a 16-2 technical fall to Olympic's Albert Lawver at 170. Schlotter said the junior had a difficult draw for someone who made a surprising late-season run to make state.
“Next year, he'll expect to be there,” he added.
Schlotter was satisfied with his team's performance at state and throughout the year that had its “ups and downs and all arounds.” While three of the six at Mat Classic will graduate, three will return, along with junior Zac Corean, who made it to state last year but came up just short this season.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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