Regional wrestling starts Friday night

Hard to believe the 2011-12 high-school wrestling season is almost over, but that's the case, as the Mat Classic XXIV state championships take place at the Tacoma Dome next weekend.

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Published: 02/10/12 1:10 pm | Updated: 02/10/12 1:10 pm

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Hard to believe the 2011-12 high-school wrestling season is almost over, but that's the case, as the Mat Classic XXIV state championships take place at the Tacoma Dome next weekend.

I will be covering the Gig Harbor Tides and Peninsula Seahawks this weekend as they try to qualify for Mat Classic.

Peninsula will begin the Class 3A regional tournament at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Bonney Lake High School. The tournament continues at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

The Seahawks have six regional qualifiers, and in my opinion, most of them have good shots at reaching state. They are Tommy Foreman (113 pounds), Randy Nimrick (132), Tyler Allen (138), Casey Larson (145), Jake Ricco (152) and Luke Holsinger (160).

Larson and Allen are the only ones with prior state experience, and Larson is the team's only returning medalist.

Gig Harbor will get tested at the 4A Region III tourney beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday at Jefferson High School in Federal Way. The Tides qualified four wrestlers for the event — 106-pounder Matt Leske, 138-pounder Kyle Iverson, 145-pounder Jacob Spadoni and 160-pounder Ben Small.

Leske might be a long shot to get through his bracket, but Iverson, Spadoni and Small — three of the team's senior co-captains, have been favored to get there all year, and they've been on top of their game against some great competition.

I will have live Twitter updates from Bonney Lake on Friday beginning at 4:30 p.m., and from Jefferson starting at 10 a.m. Saturday. You can follow me @gateway_neil

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