Cougars' final 1A push ends in third
Alan Dale/Columbia Basin Herald<br> Warden's J.P. Martinez (in blue) battled all the way to the 112-pound 1A final before falling in the last seconds, 6-5 in Tacoma.
TACOMA — Every Warden Cougar wrestler found a way to play a part in the program’s push to bring home another state title.
Still defending 1A state champions Orting proved too deep and held off all challengers to claim the 2010 title at the Mat Classic XXII in Tacoma while Warden completed a strong third-place run.
Warden finished with 101.5 points while Orting scored 214 points and second-place Zillah ended up with 127 points.
“I thought as a team we performed well this weekend,” Warden coach Rick Bowers said. “For example, Dakota Scott lost a tough, tough match and didn’t get a call that would have helped. But he came back with two pins and that’s all we ask, to keep wrestling hard. All the boys wrestled hard and well and when we lost, we lost with honor.”
One in particular was 112-pounder, sophomore J.P. Martinez.
Martinez, the sole Cougar finalist, fought a tough match against Vashon Island’s Sam Chapman before dropping a last-second 6-5 decision after mounting a strong comeback.
“It was a close match and a good fight,” Martinez said. “It takes inspiration, heart, and work to get here and we both had it. I felt I had his leg at the end but didn’t get it. I’m going to learn from this and come back better next year.”
Chapman escaped from Martinez’s hold with just nine seconds left in the match.
“I was disappointed it didn’t go his way but J.P. gave it all he could and wrestled hard,” Bowers said. “He wrestled a tough kid and lost. J.P. is a resilient kid and he’ll be back.”
Both coach and wrestler believed Martinez had the momentum going into a potential overtime before Chapman’s narrow win.
Martinez recorded two 17-1 technical fall wins to start the tournament and then beat Patrick Mayolo of Lacenter in a 9-6 battle during the semifinals.
Of Warden’s seven other wrestlers, five placed, aiding the Cougars’ bid to reach the top of the board.
Scott Henderson finished third at 135-pounds, going 4-1 overall, and ending his trip to Tacoma with a 12-4 win over Royal’s Alex Myrick in the 3rd/4th place match.
Henderson’s bid for a title was thwarted in an intense 8-6 overtime semifinal loss to Josh Lauderdale of Lakeside (9 Mile Falls).
Javier Tapia finished fourth at 103-pounds and 4-2 in the tournament after winning three straight following his quarterfinal loss to Orting’s Austin Dodson.
His only other loss was to another Orting wrestler, Austin Stiles, 10-9 in the 3rd/4th place match.
Sam Suarez followed Tapia’s same path, working his way to the 3rd/4th place match at 140-pounds before losing 9-2 to Cashmere’s Josh Vanhoven.
Scott, followed up his semifinal 6-2 loss to Keegan McCormick of Tonasket to finish fourth at 171-pounds.
The other Warden medalist was Adam Hansen who completed his freshman year with a sixth place medal at 189-pounds.
Matthew DeLeon went 1-2 at 215-pounds, and Gerino Luna fell in his two matches at 285-pounds.
Overall, Warden wrestlers went 21-15 during the weekend.
“I am happy with how we wrestled,” Bowers said. “Overall it was a strong performance.”