BONNEY LAKE — Casey Larson might be wrestling as well as anyone in the state at the moment, and he recorded another milestone victory Saturday in his quest for a Class 3A state championship.

The 145-pound junior won the Region III title at Bonney Lake High School with three blowout victories, and he led the Peninsula Seahawks as they qualified four athletes for this weekend’s Mat Classic XXIV state championships.

Coming off a first-place finish at the previous week’s South Puget Sound League championships, Larson built on the momentum and will head into his second straight state appearance as one of the favorites for the 145-pound crown.

At the regional event, he was virtually untouchable. He pinned Bremerton’s Ben Smith, then whipped out decisive decisions over Falani Gill of Enumclaw (12-1) and Anniru Kamara of Hudson’s Bay (10-2).

“I was a little slow at first, but I picked it up at the end,” Larson said Friday after his victory over Smith, in which he built a 9-0 lead before he finished the pin at 3 minutes, 7 seconds. “First match is always the one you’ve got to get through and rough out, but after that, you should be good.”

Larson, who finished eighth last season at 130, will roll into state with the No. 4 ranking at 145 from the Washington Wrestling Report. He’ll open the Mat Classic Friday morning against Decatur’s Brandon Zimmerman.

Larson said he gained confidence from winning the league title, but he’s not resting on his laurels as he tries to capture the state title.

“I think my cardio is good,” he said. “I’m always getting better technically, and I think that if I just wrestle to my full ability, that I can do it.”

While Larson’s regional title wasn’t a surprise for Peninsula fans, Jake Ricco’s third-place effort at 152 pounds might have been.

Ricco’s opening regional match against Prairie’s Nathan Spires was scoreless until midway through the second period, but Ricco made the first quality move count and got the pin at 3:13.

That spurred Ricco on to a pin of Wilson’s Timmy Sentinella, and, although he lost a semifinal match to Kelso’s Garrett McDonald, he was sharp Saturday in decisions over Bremerton’s Devin Gipson (12-1) and Enumclaw’s Justin Mitchell (6-4).

Ricco, a junior, will make his first state appearance. He has moved up to fifth in the state rankings, although he didn’t get a favorable draw for Mat Classic. He’ll open against fourth-ranked Adrian Orndorff of University (Spokane).

“The whole year, I wanted to go to state, so I’m going to work hard and make my way there,” Ricco said.

Seahawks coach Mark Nickels said Ricco often has started tournaments slowly, so it was good to see him buck the trend.

“That was his lot for a while,” Nickels said. “It’s nice to see him actually wrestling and getting recognized for what he’s able to do. And now his wrestling has spoken for itself.”

At 132 pounds, Peninsula junior Randy Nimrick was coming off an SPSL title, but he had to dig deep to get himself to state as the fifth and final qualifier.

Nimrick started with a 7-0 win over Mountain View’s Kenji Yamashita, then dropped a respectable 7-6 decision to top-ranked Dillon Harris of Yelm.

Nimrick was on the verge of elimination after a 4-3 loss to Timberline’s Josh Beam, but he bounced back to beat Kelso’s Josh Warren, 9-3.

Nimrick, who will open the state tournament with a rematch against Harris, said getting ahead is a big key to his success.

“I always like to get the first takedown, because it feels like I’m in control of the match,” he said.

Senior Tyler Allen was Peninsula’s final state qualifier, taking fourth at 138 pounds. Allen will make his third trip to state and hopes to secure his first medal. His quest will begin Friday against O’Dea’s Dominic Nicacio.

Allen pinned Gunnar Metzger of Hudson’s Bay to open the regional meet, then lost 8-2 to Yelm’s James Bradley. He split decisions against two Enumclaw wrestlers to finish the event, beating Cole Snider (4-2) but falling to Lucas Somera (5-2).

Peninsula sent three other wrestlers to the regional meet. William Lester (120), Luke Holsinger (160) and Tommy Foreman (113) failed to advance, although Foreman is the alternate in his division.

Peninsula (78 points) placed eighth out of 20 teams. Enumclaw (206.5) held off Yelm (194) for the regional title, and the two teams figure to battle it out again this week with the state championship on the line.

Sports Editor Neil Pierson can be reached at 253-853-9246 or by email at neil.pierson@gateline.com. Follow him on Twitter, @gateway_neil.