The Bonney Lake Panthers flexed its proverbial muscle on the first day of the 2012 Mat Classic at the Tacoma Dome.

The Panthers earned 46 points and are in third place as a team in the Class 3A division after the first day of wrestling. Panthers head coach Tony Clarke said before the Mat Classic began he worked as hard as he could to make sure his squad came into the tournament with a calm mindset.

"Our kids put too much pressure on themselves so our goal was to try to dial back some of that pressure," Clarke said. "We know we are already good enough to be here and have faced some of the best competition in the western half of the United States. We know our wrestlers have the skills, but we wanted them to calm down so they weren't too tense."

The plan worked to perfection. Panthers wrestlers Colton Tracy (113), Andrew Cunningham (120), Chili Sabin (160), Yodi Lawes (112) and Jake Lueders (170) will all wrestle in the semi-finals tomorrow. Cascade Christian's Josh Crager (120), Sumner's AJ Atoigue (152) and Emerald Ridge wrestlers Jennifer Anderson (124) and Imani Hampton (170) both advanced to the semi-finals as well.

Atoigue upset Interlake's Jacob Marks in the first round of the tourney, pinning him with just eight seconds remaining in the match. Marks earned second place at the Mat Classic in 2011. Atoigue trailed Marks 5-0 early in the match but scored eight unanswered points before registering a pin. Atoigue felt his conditioning is what pulled him through against Marks.

"I pretty much knew he was getting tired so I felt like I could do risky things," Atoigue said. "I got him out of position and just capitalized on that. I kept the pressure on and got him more tired. That is when I caught him (for the pin)."