To stave off boredom or to remain sharp and hungry, sometimes the best wrestlers cherry-pick a time to move up a weight class for a tournament.
About a week ago, Orting High’s Drew Templeman entertained that thought for the 35th annual Matman Classic, hosted by Central Kitsap High School. He eyed one particular foe – Tahoma’s Joey Palmer – at 132 pounds.
Plans sometimes do not work out. Palmer bowed out because of a groin injury. And when it came to the finals Saturday night, Templeman looked over and saw another friend, offseason workout partner and fellow reigning state champion in Olympic High’s Cody Yeik.
Templeman stayed perfect this season, but it was not easy. He scored the match’s only points on a takedown with 15 seconds to go in overtime to win, 2-0.
Even though this was Tahoma’s invitational to win – with 228 points, the Bears outpaced Enumclaw (2001/2) – Orting was the only school with multiple finalists to win all of its matches.
Besides Templeman, other champions included Fred Green at 106 (5-3 win over Tahoma’s Todd Link), Austin Dodson at 113 (9-1 win over Tahoma’s Tim Whitehead) and Shannon Maris at 138 (pin over Graham-Kapowsin’s Ian Steen in 1 minute, 15 seconds).
But on the north side of the gymnasium, the Orting fans held their breath as Templeman was locked in a dogfight. And the situation became more serious when Yeik rode the three-time 1A state champion out to end the second period scoreless.
All Yeik needed in the final period was an escape, and he would lead. He never even had the chance.
“I have been working on riding (from the top) in the room.” Templeman said. “Riding Shannon (Maris, his cousin) is hard as heck.”
Speaking of Maris, he was involved in one of the high-profile matches against Steen – an opponent he pinned at the prestigious Tri-State Championships in Idaho in December.
And in the first period, he got Steen in a cradle move and ended the match quickly.
“Everyone is a sucker for the cradle,” said Maris, smiling.
After watching his brother lose, Graham-Kapowsin’s Grant Steen took the mat next against Enumclaw’s Lucas Somera, and methodically hammered out a 3-1 decision in the 145 finals.
“It’s hard not to watch (Ian),” Steen said. “Before this year, I had to walk out of the room or I would be screaming the whole time.”
The day’s close finish came at 195. Tied 1-1 in earlier matches this season, Enumclaw’s T.J. Cormier earned an escape with one second remaining to notch a 5-4 victory over Tahoma’s Matt Hopkins.
“I wasn’t feeling the same. I couldn’t catch my breath out there. And it was close,” Cormier said. “I have to face him one more time in the next couple of weeks. But it gets you ready for state.”
Tahoma had a meet-high seven finalists, but took home one title when Steven Hopkins beat teammate Jesse Vaughn, 6-1, at 126.
“We are about where we should be right now. We have a lot of work to do,” Tahoma coach Chris Feist said. “This is a tough tournament. We come here because it is about the level of our regional tournament … and it will be a lot tougher than our regionals this year.”
Todd Milles: 253-597-8442
todd.milles@thenewstribune.com
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