TACOMA — The Gig Harbor High School wrestling program had to say goodbye to three outstanding seniors after the Class 4A state wrestling championships wrapped up on Saturday.

Kyle Iverson, Jacob Spadoni and Ben Small all made good on their season-long goals to reach Mat Classic XXIV, but only Iverson, the Tides’ 138-pounder, left the Tacoma Dome with some hardware.

Iverson reached the semifinals in his second consecutive state trip, but lost three times on Saturday and settled for sixth place. It was an improvement after a junior season in which he fell short of a state medal.

His opening match was a lesson in perseverance and positioning. It didn’t figure to be easy for Iverson, who entered state with the Washington Wrestling Report’s No. 5 ranking, as he drew No. 7 Sam Berry of Union.

Iverson broke a scoreless draw with a second-period escape, but Berry tied it with less than a minute to go. The match went to overtime, and the wrestlers continued to wrestle hard, but conservatively.

Coming out of a neutral-position restart with 6 seconds to go, Iverson made his move, grabbing Berry around the legs and earning the winning takedown.

That catapulted him to the quarterfinals, where he earned a less-demanding 8-3 decision over Beamer’s Aron Set-Heit.

Iverson’s journey took a different course Saturday morning in the semifinals. Top-ranked Ian Steen of Graham-Kapowsin was strong on his feet from the opening whistle, and took Iverson to the mat late in the first period. Steen led 8-2 entering the third period — Iverson’s only points came on two technical violations — and completed the victory with a pin at 4 minutes, 36 seconds.

Steen won the state championship later that day, pinning Deshar House of Beamer.

Iverson didn’t fare much better in two consolation matches. O’Dea senior Kinsey Johnson pinned him in 2:50, and that put him into the bout for fifth and sixth places against Kent-Meridian’s Joshua Smith.

Iverson and Smith met at the Region III meet a week earlier, and the Gig Harbor star earned his state berth by breaking away late to win, 17-9.

Smith turned the rematch into a defensive affair, continually showing great balance and keeping Iverson’s legs wrapped up. Iverson took down Smith with 50 seconds to go for a 3-3 tie, but Smith escaped 20 seconds later and finished the 6-3 win with a last-second reversal.

Spadoni and Small went a combined 0-4 during their final Mat Classic appearances.

Small didn’t even know he’d compete at state until late last week, since he was an alternate at 160 pounds after having placed fifth at the regional tournament.

Small’s draw was challenging, to say the least, as he got sophomore Chandler Rogers from Spokane powerhouse Mead. Rogers showed why he was a defending state champion, getting two quick takedowns and finishing the pin in 55 seconds.

Rogers went on to capture his second state title, beating Woodinville’s Ryan Christensen 11-7 on Saturday night.

Small didn’t recover from the loss, and Rogers-Puyallup junior Dwight Yetter eliminated him with a 4-2 decision.

Spadoni, the Tides’ 145-pounder, was also searching for his first Mat Classic medal, but admitted feeling drained after losing 8-5 to Austin Wagner of Davis on Friday morning.

 “(Wagner) was a finalist from the previous year,” Spadoni said. “I wrestled him hard. I felt like I could beat him. But he just came out on top.

“I feel like I wrestled all right, but after that first match, I felt like I was just done.”

Needing a win to stay alive, Spadoni dropped a 7-5 overtime decision to Roosevelt’s Willie Spurr.

“The kid from Roosevelt was a very sound wrestler,” Spadoni said. “I think I just underestimated him.”

Though his high-school career is over, Spadoni may continue competing next year. He’s drawn interest from two small colleges — Briar Cliff in Sioux City, Iowa, and the University of Great Falls in Montana.

He also has plenty of great memories from his senior year, including having his father, Leonard, as Gig Harbor’s head coach.

“Our team’s been really good this year,” Spadoni said. “It’s been fun having all the young kids. It’s going to be fun seeing them for the next four years.”

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.