The seven losses in his 24-7 season record might not be what Tumwater senior James Nolan envisioned as he prepares for next week’s Mat Classic XXIV.
But the casual observer might not know how competitive Nolan was in all seven defeats, which happened to be against higher-ranked opponents in higher classifications.
Defeats have come at the hands of Enumclaw’s Tyke Reid, 3A’s second-ranked wrestler at 120 pounds, as well as three to Kelso’s Josh Newberg, 3A’s top-ranked wrestler at 113 pounds.
Nolan said he hopes those defeats will make a difference for him at Mat Classic.
They sure have paid off for him during the postseason, including Saturday’s Region II 2A wrestling tournament in Centralia.
Nolan continued his undefeated postseason with a 12-0 decision over Black Hills’ Logan Gillihan in the 120-pound regional title match. The regional championship comes a week after he won the subregional title.
Nolan’s has a simple goal as his high school career comes to a close next week.
“A state championship,” Nolan said. “It’s senior year.”
Nolan was one of three regional champions for Tumwater, which finished second to Centralia, 289-150.
Nine wrestlers from the host Tigers advanced to the finals in the 18-team regional field. The top four in each weight class advance to Mat Classic XXIV.
Saturday was the third time this season Nolan and Gillihan wrestled each other, with Nolan, ranked No. 4 at 120 pounds in 2A, winning all three matches.
Earlier, Nolan pinned W.F. West’s Denver Parker and defeated R.A. Long’s Irvin Nguyen to reach the title match.
But Nolan wasn’t the only one in his family to win a regional championship.
Younger brother Cameron, a junior, won the 126-pound title, defeating a familiar opponent – W.F. West’s Ty Burk – 6-1. It, too, was the third time this season the younger Nolan and Burk have wrestled each other.
“We’re actually kind of wrestling buddies,” said Cameron Nolan, who is ranked No. 2 in 2A in his weight class.
Tumwater senior Riley Prentice, the defending 2A state champion at 160 pounds, won his second consecutive regional title at 160, defeating Black Hills’ Beau Ryan, 10-2.
The Tigers had six regional champions – Michael Stuart (138), Cole Riccardo (152), Preston Churchill (170), Kyzer Bailey (182), Dayna Squibb (195) and Garrett Pannkuk (220) – and another three who competed in the finals.
W.F. West was third in the team standings, and had two regional champions.
Andrew White, who was named the regional wrestler of the year prior to the finals, defeated Centralia’s Kellen Pelzel in a tightly contested match, 7-6, and Will Bardezbain pinned Mark Morris’ Jordan Stello in 3:42.
Orting sends 17 to Mat Classic: Different venue, same result as last weekend’s district meet – the Cardinals sent 13 to the finals at their Class 1A Region I tournament at Bellevue Christian.
And the three-time defending state 1A champions crowned six champions - Fred Green (106 pounds), Austin Dodson (113), Drew Templeman (126), Shannon Maris (138), Mike Moniz (145) and Dalton Evanger (152).
“We got some young kids we are taking to state that we did not think would get there,” Orting coach Mike Sowards said.
Orting won the meet with 3421/2 points – well ahead of Nooksack Valley (167) and Vashon (148).
Staff writer Todd Milles contributed to this report.
Meg Wochnick: 360-754-5473 mwochnick@theolympian.com
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