Boys wrestlers take on challenges of 32-man at Mat Classic
WIAA photo Othello junior Isaiah Perez goes into the Mat Classic XXXI as the 2A defending state champion at 285 pounds and the No. 1-ranked heavyweight in all classifications.
Rodney Harwood/Sun TribuneRoyal sophomore Dominic Martinez goes into the 1A Mat Classic XXXI as the SCAC East District champion at 120 pounds. He was a state runner-up last year as a freshman.
Rodney Harwood/Sun Tribune Royal’s Ryder Eilers, right, takes down Isaiah Perez of Othello during the Leonard Schutte Invitational. Eilers is the SCAC East District 285-pound champion and a contender in the 1A state tournament this weekend at the Tacoma Dome.
OTHELLO — More people have been invited to the dance, but it’s still going to be the same ol’ intense run to the top shelf of the podium when Mat Classic XXXI begins on Friday with 32-man brackets in 14 weight classifications.
That’s not a typo, with the winter blast that hit the Pacific Northwest canceling all regional action over the weekend, anybody that got out of districts advances to the state tournament. It will still be a two-day tournament, but it has definitely turned into a battle of the fittest for wrestlers, who could wrestle as many as four or five matches in a single day.
“It adds more people and really gives the state the best wrestlers, in my opinion,” Othello coach Rudy Ocha II said. “But I think it will balance out. We got some bubble guys in and so did other schools.”
To Washington Wrestling Coaches Hall of Famer Ruben Martinez, Mother Nature did what he’s been pushing the WIAA to do for years — make the state tournament a 32-man bracket.
“When I first started coaching here in Washington state, we’ve been pushing for a 32-man bracket almost every year,” said Martinez, who coached at Othello for 20 years and is now in his first season at Royal. “It’s kind of ironic how it worked out this year.
“It’ll still be a two-day tournament, but I wrestled five matches in one day my sophomore year (at Othello) to take fourth. It won’t phase the kids with experience, it’s the kids that don’t have experience that will have to really stay focused all the way through.”
Royal won the 1A SCAC East District and will send 15 wrestlers to the Mat Classic, including district champions Dominic Martinez (120), Lorenzo Myrick (160) and Ryder Eilers (285).
The Wahluke Warriors finished fourth in the district tournament and will send a five-man contingent to the Mat Classic, including runners-up Kyle Yorgesen (182), Seth Yorgesen (220) and Pedro Castenada (285).
Othello goes into the Classic as the No. 4-ranked team in the 2A classification, according to Washington Wrestling Report. The Huskies, who qualified 13, are led by the defending 2A state champion at heavyweight, Isaiah Perez, the top ranked 285-pounder in all classifications and Bernie Garza Jr. (182).
“I think it depends on which districts we get paired up with. A lot of times our No. 4 seeds knock off No. 1s at the state tournament. So getting in is the main thing, a lot of things happen at state,” Ocha II said. “Team-wise, obviously more matches means more scoring. Hopefully, we can perform the way we have all year.”
Martinez has been there as a wrestler. He’s been there as a coach, now he’s going back one more time with a new program looking for the same, ol’ goal - top shelf on Championship Saturday in the Dome.
“We have some quality kids with big expectations that I think can do well,” Martinez said. “As a team, we don’t have the dogs that Granger or Colville have. They have some tough upper class kids with coaches that have been there for a long time with them. But we’re going to get after it.”
Rodney Harwood can be reached via email at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com