Chiefs wrestlers finish second at Mat Classic

TACOMA -  Jamie Wise has earned plenty of respect from coaches and wrestling pundits in and around the state.

This past weekend, Wise added his best finish as the coach for the Moses Lake Chiefs wrestling team as his squad took second at the Class 4A finals at Mat Classic XXIII in the Tacoma Dome.

Seniors Brian Chamberlain (215 pounds) and Kabe Fluaitt (285-points) capped their careers off by winning each of their second straight individual titles

Yet, despite these great accomplishments, Wise knows that even with 119 team points  which placed his team behind champions Lake Stevens (129.5), that his valiant team of seven Chiefs who qualified for state may have been in store for more if only for a break or two. Despite that, all of the Chiefs wrestlers placed at state.

"It's a happy and sad day," Wise said. "We finished second which is pretty good but we obviously wanted the big one. It is disappointing that a few kids fell short of their goals. I wanted them to feel what it's like at the very top."

Six of the Chiefs wrestlers made it through to the semifinals and four made it to the championship matches of their respective weight classes. Overall, despite missing out on a team state title, Moses Lake wrestlers finished a combined 21-10.

After an impressive first day the Chiefs, who went 14-1 in individual contests, trailed Lake Stevens by 5.5 points heading into the climatic Saturday final rounds.

"It may have been pretty tough to overtake Lake Stevens because they brought more kids here," Wise said. "Overall our kids did as well as they could have."

The two defending state champions heading into this weekend - Chamberlain and Fluaitt - each blew past their Friday opponents, recording three falls and a technical fall win between them. Fluaitt's two matches barely lasted over a full period of competition.

Chamberlain started off his Saturday with Tim Peraza of Evergreen (Vancouver) in the semifinal and dominated all the way through for a 9-3 win.

Then in the final against Dylan Rutledge (Auburn), Chamberlain battled his way to a 3-2 win in a very defensive fight where the Chief threw a few scares into the Moses Lake fans in attendance but found a way to hold off his opponent.

"I felt pretty good knowing I had been getting better since the beginning of the tournament," Chamberlain said. "I am happy with how things turned out. I am happy for the team. I wish it could have been a little better but we did well with second overall."

Chamberlain battled a knee injury that kept him off the football field all season and then the wrestling mats for the first six weeks before being ready to come back and fight to retain his title.

"It was a definitely a challenge," Chamberlain said. "I lost 20 pounds with five months on crutches but it turned out okay."

Drake Watson of Puyallup gave Fluaitt the same type of match as Chamberlain/Rutledge, a bend-don't-break defensive approach. It would end up where Fluaitt's sole takedown in the first period was enough to old on to a 3-2 win.

"I was really happy to do the same as last year," Fluaitt said. "I started out right and held on from there. I want to thank my coaches for prepping me and Chambo right and working our butts off to get ready."

Fluaitt, a jovial, easygoing young man, appeared to have more intensity heading into matches this year and for good reason.

"I think the first title was a shock and awe," Fluaitt said. "This was more of me showing everybody that this was not a fluke and that I was here to win it again."

Kent Meridian's Jean-Claude Atkinson matched up with Fluaitt in the semifinals and battled to a uneventful display of the Chiefs' dominance. Fluaitt never was threatened in a slow moving but dominanat 5-2 win.

"Those two boys have been the closers for us the past couple of years," Wise said of his two champions. "They both won 3-2 decisions which I don't know if they planned that or not. They each wrestled the guys before and knew what they were in for. They have both been around enough to know to stay disciplined and knew what it took by staying in good position."

At 145 pounds, Nico Moreno began his quest for a state title with a third-period pin over a pesky and resillient Jake Virtue of Union and a quarterfinal win through second-period pin.

In a key semifinal against Lake Stevens' Jake Reeves, the two battled back and forth, with Reevers getting plenty of points most don't get off Moreno and even led midway before losing a narrow 13-11 decision.

Setting himself up for for his first state title, Moreno broke out to an early lead against Mead's Chandler Rogers and led 5-1 midway through the second period.

Then, moments later, a near hush fell over that section of the floor as an attacking error cost Moreno and Rogers would grab hold and pin the Chief for the title.

"Nico was in total control and dominating," Wise said. "But then a high hand on his shot and you can't make mistakes like that against a kid like Rogers. It was a shock, a total shock. Nico's taking it pretty hard."

Despite losing in his final, Moses Lake's Jonathan Perales - who lost 10-5 to Alex Coffman (Mariner) - wrapped up a sensational darkhorse season.

The sophomore Perales continued his late season run of solid wrestling by winning a tight 9-6 first round match and then rolled over Tahoma's Matt Hopkins, 6-1 in the quarterfinal.

Taylor Smith of Bethel stood in front of Perales and a berth in the final. Perales was the more agressive and technically proficient wrestler of the two non-seeded competitors and led early.

But a 10-minute delay ensued late in the first-period after Chiefs' coaches disputed a point given to Smith on a called illegal chicken wing by Perales.

The call was overturned, Perales maintained a 2-0 lead and held on tight for a 6-4 win.

"He's had a great finish to this year," Wise said. "It was close final and he had the first take down before he got caught and just couldn't get it in the end. But Jonathan really wrestled well for us."

Herson Rodriguez took fourth at 140 pounds for the Chiefs.

Rodriguez rolled to a 17-0 first round win before winning a tough 4-2 battle against Trevor Anderson (Bethel) in the quarterfinals.

Mac Hutchinson (Edmonds-Woodway) matched up with Rodriguez in the Saturday semifinal.

Hutchinson was the more agressive of the two wrestlers and may have benefitted from some interesting officiating calls to eliminate the Chief from title contention, with a 12-3 win.

Rodriguez would split his next two matches and finish fourth.

"Herson had a pretty tough daw after he got into the semifinals," Wise said. "He kept battling and came a long way this season."

Omar Suarez (125 pounds) worked his way into the semifinals on day one, with a first round victory via second period pin and a tough 6-4 quarterfinal victory over Jesse Vaughn of Tahoma.

The senior then matched up with Joey Palmer (Rogers-Puyallap) and could not hold up against the relentless pursuit of his opponent to get pinned late in the second period. Suarez would finish sixth.

"Omar had the best tournament any of us could have hoped for," Wise said. "He did an awesome job and he should be very proud of his accomplishment this year."

Beau Gleed, the Chiefs 119-pound sophomore, dropped his opening match to South Kitsap's Terrill Wilson 9-0, but rolled to two staight consolation matches before wrapping up Friday's action.

On Saturday Gleed dropped his two contests and finished eighth.

"Beau had a tough draw and ended up with the defending champion right off the bat," Wise said. "He still ended up placing and that's good to have all your kids place."