Ten SCAC wrestlers place at Mat Classic in Tacoma
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Royal's Dominic Martinez takes a moment before getting up from the mat after falling in the championship round at 132 pounds at Mat Classic XXXII on Saturday.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Royal's Benji Bustos grabbed the fourth-place finish at 170 in 1A, falling to Forks' Hayden Baker in the third-place match.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Warden's Aaliyah Escamilla and Isabella Morales embrace after their final matchup on Saturday for the title at 105 at the Mat Classic.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Royal's Dominic Martinez holds on to his opponent's leg as he works to take him to the ground in their finals bout on Saturday in Tacoma.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Royal's Dominic Martinez works to overpower his opponent from Deer Park, Levi Miller, in the finals at 132 in 1A on Saturday.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Royal head coach Ben Orth watches his senior, Lorenzo Myrick, in the finals on Saturday in the Mat Classic.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Warden senior Aaliyah Escamilla fought a familiar opponent in Toppenish's Isabella Morales in the first-place bout at 105 on Saturday in Tacoma.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Royal senior Lorenzo Myrick is comforted by his head coach, Ben Orth, after falling in the championship round to Granger's Diego Isordia on Saturday at the Mat Cl
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Royal senior Lorenzo Myrick moves to take his opponent to the mat in the championship bout at 160 in 1A.
TACOMA — Ten local wrestlers out of the South Central Athletic Conference found themselves on the podium in the Tacoma Dome on Saturday at Mat Classic XXXII.
In her fourth trip to the Tacoma Dome as a Cougar, Warden senior Aaliyah Escamilla made her first appearance in the championship round in her first season at 105. Placing fifth as a freshman, fourth as a sophomore and third as a junior, Escamilla capped off her career on the mat with the Cougars as a state runner-up on Saturday.
Toppenish’s Isabella Morales came back to take the title after finishing second last season, defeating Escamilla by a 6-1 decision. The two familiar opponents embraced after the match as both competitors showed their respect after going the distance in the championship round.
Fellow Cougar Alexia Hernandez fell in her opening bout to Allison Blaine of Hudson’s Bay on Friday in Tacoma.
The Royal Knights had six wrestlers reach the podium on Saturday. Royal head coach Ben Orth said he was “extremely pleased” with how his wrestlers performed in Tacoma.
“State meet, it’s always hard, it’s got its ups and downs,” Orth said. “By and large, to bring in seven kids and have six place is really a blessing.”
At 132 in 1A, junior Dominic Martinez reached the championship round for the third-straight season. Martinez added a third second-place medal in the process, falling just short against Deer Park’s Levi Miller.
Down 3-2, Martinez left everything on the mat as he worked in the final seconds to even the score. Miller entered the tournament as the top-ranked wrestler in the division.
After a fourth-place finish in 2019, senior Lorenzo Myrick made his first appearance in the championship round, facing off against a familiar opponent in Granger’s Diego Isiordia. Myrick fell short of the title, taking second place at 160 pounds as Isiordia took the 7-1 decision on Saturday.
This marks the third-straight podium appearance for Myrick in Tacoma. Orth said his senior is a wrestler who put in the work every day to get to this point.
“I’m just incredibly proud of him,” Orth said. “He’s a fantastic kid, he gave it his all in that match against a very accomplished wrestler from Granger. He should hold his head high, our whole community, proud of that kid.”
Junior Benji Bustos grabbed fourth at 170, falling to Medical Lake’s Ethan Davis in the semifinals. This marks the first trip to the podium in Tacoma for Bustos in his third trip to the Mat Classic.
Freshman Kaleb Hernandez finished eighth at 145, falling in the third round to Mt. Baker’s Killian Cronk. Mark Martinez took seventh at 152 on Saturday over Warden’s Holden Haworth. At 220, Kevin Dominguez grabbed the seventh-place finish with the second-round pin against Connell’s Eliseo Castillo.
The Cougars’ boys wrestling team had three wrestlers find the podium on Saturday. Head coach Brent Cox said he felt the outcome was good having three of their four wrestlers being able to place.
“I’m always going to want kids to place higher and more kids at the Dome, but, overall, I thought our kids wrestled very well,” Cox said.
Haworth felt the injury bug bite at the worst possible time, proving costly in the third round of the consolation bracket against Mason McBride of Granite Falls. Haworth was forced to forfeit his bout for seventh place against Royal’s Mark Martinez. Yahir Morales fell in the second round of the consolation bracket at 126 to Connell’s Abel Morales.
Haworth’s seventh-place finish at 152 marks his second trip to the podium after finishing sixth as a junior. Cox said it’s always tough seeing a senior not being able to finish his career the way he knows he may have wanted.
Cael Cox placed sixth at 113 in his second trip to the Tacoma Dome. After falling by sudden victory in the quarterfinals, Cox made a run to the consolation semifinals before coming up just shy in a 4-3 decision to Colville’s Aiden Medrano.
Junior Brenton Cole fell to eventual champion Levi Miller of Deer Park in his opening bout on Friday before making a run in the consolation bracket to reach the podium. Cole picked up the second-round pin against his opponent Payden Webster to grab seventh at 132.
“He didn’t get the best draw coming in, so for him to place where he did was really tremendous on that end,” Brent Cox said.
Eduardo Suarez fell in his opening bout at 195 on Friday against his opponent from Cascade Christian, falling in the first round of the consolation bracket.
Wahluke’s Pedro Castaneda and Laly Gonzalez lost their opening bouts on Friday in Tacoma.
