Graham-Kapowsin High wrestling coach Scott Stirts worked hard this season to fill his team’s schedule with some of the toughest meets in the region.
“I told the kids my job is to find them losses so they’ll work hard to improve,” Stirts said. “They don’t like hearing that, but it happens so they’re ready come postseason.”
It’s safe to say the tactic worked.
The Eagles took home titles in six weight classes and easily won the team title Saturday at the Class 4A Region II wrestling championships at Rogers High School.
G-K got titles from Spencer Schroeder (106 pounds), Taylor Salzberg (120), Adam Romano (132), Ian Steen (138), Grant Steen (145) and Joseph Gomez (182).
Gomez, a junior, punched his first ticket to the Mat Classic by defeating Puyallup’s Jeremy Misailegalu, 5-1, in the final. After losing two close decisions to Misailegalu earlier this season, Gomez decided to take a different approach on Saturday.
“I just used some different moves, some different things and hit some outside shots,” he said. “I got it down on what he likes to do. I just came out and wrestled tough.”
Wrestling on opposite mats at the same time, both Steen brothers triumphed in close decisions. The younger Ian defeated Todd Beamer senior Deshar House, 8-7, and Grant eked past Rogers junior Damian Jackson, 3-1.
“It was pretty tough. I feel like I didn’t wrestle as well as I have in the past few matches in weeks,” said Grant Steen, the second-ranked wrestler in the state in his weight class. “I trained really hard this last week. I feel I’m still fatigued from it. I’m going to take the next week and work on technique. I feel like I’m in pretty good shape, I just feel I need to heal up and I’ll be good to go.”
“The important thing is they (both) came out and got the regional number one seed for stacking up at state,” Stirts said.
G-K junior Alex Boynton wrestled in the 285-pound final, but got pinned by Federal Way’s Jessy Leifi, who’s ranked ninth in the state.
“(It was about) just going out there with a clear mind and making it my match,” Leifi said. “This is another step to get closer to my goal … to win state.”
Top-ranked Kadyn Del Toro, a senior from Curtis, advanced to the 195-pound finals behind two pins earlier in the day, but didn’t have to wrestle in the final because Puyallup’s Josh Rayburn pulled out with an injury.
“It doesn’t bother me … I’ll just stay healthy for next week,” Del Toro said. “I’m excited. I feel 100 percent. I just have to stay sharp and get ready for next week. It’s going to be a tough tournament.”
Other area winners were Curtis’ Eddie Cuevas (113 pounds), Beamer’s Ares Carpio (126) and Puallup’s Matt Voss (220). The top five wrestlers in each class qualified for Mat Classic next week.
G-K scored 212 points, while Todd Beamer (132.5), Puyallup (106), Curtis (104) and Woodinville (75) rounded out the top five team spots.
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