Heartbreak for Hoiness

4A Mat Classic recap

TACOMA - It was, to say the least, not the ending Cody Hoiness had pictured for himself.

The Moses Lake senior wrestler had been nothing short of spectacular all season, rolling through the 140-pound classification with an undefeated record. Things hadn't changed in his first three bouts at Mat Classic XX, as he pinned two opponents within 69 seconds.

But Snohomish senior Brad Perry derailed Hoiness in Saturday's 4A championship match, countering every move Hoiness made and pulling off a 14-12 upset.

"He wasn't near as aggressive as he typically is," Chiefs head coach Jamie Wise said of Hoiness. "That wasn't a typical Cody match. He went away from a lot of his strengths and that cost him."

Hoiness got the match's first takedown before Perry rallied for a 6-5 lead after one period. A more defensive second period finished with a 7-7 tie.

Hoiness again earned the first takedown in the third, but a reversal and near fall gave Perry a 13-9 advantage that Hoiness couldn't overcome.

It was a disappointing end for the senior, but Wise offered some words of encouragement.

"His whole goal was to be undefeated and to be a state champion," the coach said. "I hope for his sake he keeps wrestling. There's a lot more in there, and he can put this behind him and go on to greater things."

The Chiefs, coming off a district title and a second-place effort at regionals had hoped, with a little luck, to challenge for the team title. That didn't happen, as Lake Stevens defended its championship with 145 points and Moses Lake took eighth with 79.5.

Seven of the team's nine qualifiers did earn medals, though Hoiness was the only one to reach the finals. Junior Thomas Pfeiffer took third at 145 pounds, even after a 12-6 loss to Decatur's Spencer Kabalac in his first match.

"Pfeiffer did a great job of coming all the way back, after losing one, to place third," Wise said. "He did it the hard way."

Needing two wins on Friday to earn a medal, Pfeiffer pinned Olympia's Ian Fischer and beat University's Jacob Mason 9-4. He kept on winning the next day, pinning Brent Maybury of Rogers-Puyallup and earning decisions over Kabalac and Mariner's Raymond Yee.

Senior 285-pounder Tad Harman capped his career with a fifth-place medal, reaching the semifinals on the strength of a pin against Inglemoor's Travis Bogard and a 4-2 win over Allan Thompson of Rogers-Puyallup.

There, however, he was dominated and pinned in 63 seconds by Decatur's Tevyn Tillman, the eventual champion. Harman then lost 8-1 to Jeff O'Connor of Curtis before rebounding to beat Emerald Ridge's Braedan Binkiewicz, 9-4.

Five of the Chiefs' state participants are eligible to return next season, which bodes well for a squad graduating some talented seniors.

"From where we started this year, we came a long way," Wise said. "If you would've tried to pick us at the beginning of the year, we wouldn't have been this far.

"At the same time, we wanted better for all those guys," he added. "They've been working hard and we wanted better things for them so they'd have better memories."

Freshman Brian Chamberlain ended a promising freshman campaign with a sixth-place finish at 171. He was pinned twice by Redmond's Cary Hooper, but won three consolation matches, including a 17-0 technical fall against Oak Harbor's Chris Reilly.

"He was really upset he didn't place higher," Wise said of Chamberlain. "He's in a weight where he was the only freshman. He did a great job."

Senior Gabe Guzman was seventh at 130, winning 3-0 over Steven Loos of Heritage in the first round. Guzman lost a hard-fought 12-9 decision to finalist Kevin Tao of Tahoma, but won a pair of consolation bouts and ended his career with an 8-2 triumph over Brandon Austin of Lake Stevens.

Junior Cameron Chlarson and senior Josh Nielsen each finished eighth in their respective weights.

Nielsen (160) was pinned by Richard Reed of Snohomish in the first round, but got to day two with a pin of Kentwood's Lance Larsen and a 6-4 decision over Bethel's Nick Budinger. He ended the tournament with losses to Mead's Drew Comito and North Kitsap's Anthony Lindfors.

Chlarson started his march at 135 well, pinning Kentwood's Cody Quinn in the first period. But he ran up against eventual champ Josh Monson of Lake Stevens in the quarterfinals, falling 14-6. A victory over Tyson Riehle of Ferris was followed by losses to Alex Pelligrini of Lake Stevens and Tyler Enos of Todd Beamer.

Two first-time state participants, David Peralez and Ricco Moreno, were eliminated on Friday.

"They both won a match," Wise said. "They're going to be doing just fine next time."

Moreno (125) was pinned by Graham-Kapowsin's Ryan Johnson in his opener. He beat Juanita's Jake Brown 4-2, but lost 13-8 to Sean Anderson of Lake Stevens.

Peralez (119) lost a 10-3 decision to Graham-Kapowsin's Travis Metcalf, beat Jackson's Jared Mead 10-1, then dropped a 7-5 overtime thriller to Cody Wood of Heritage.