TACOMA — Tyler Allen was tired of showing up at the Class 3A state wrestling championships and having nothing to show for it.

As a sophomore at Peninsula High School, Allen fell one win shy of a medal in the 135-pound bracket. As a junior, he repeated the pattern and failed to advance to the second day of competition in the 145-pound division.

Allen was a young man on a mission as a senior, and he put those bad memories behind him on Saturday by finishing fifth at 138 pounds during Mat Classic XXIV at the Tacoma Dome.

Allen got off to a terrific start as the tournament opened Friday. For the third straight year, he beat O’Dea’s Dominic Nicacio at state, and did it convincingly with a 7-1 decision.

In the quarterfinals, Allen cemented his first medal by pinning Mount Spokane senior Sam Wilkes in 5 minutes, 23 seconds.

That gave Allen a chance to reach the title match with a victory over Pasco’s Deondre Sparks in Saturday morning’s semifinals. But Sparks picked up the key points and gutted out a 3-1 victory.

“He just got one takedown and tried to stall the rest of the match,” Allen said. “I couldn’t hold him down, and I couldn’t escape.”

Allen then lost an 8-1 decision to James Bradley of Yelm, but he was determined to wrap up his Seahawks career on a high note.

In the match for fifth and sixth places, Allen gave up the first takedown to Sedro-Woolley’s Kyle Morgan. He kept Morgan from building a bigger lead, though, and grabbed a lead after two periods with a takedown and a near fall. He earned another near fall in the final minute to polish off a 9-4 victory.

Allen said the key was not getting distracted after falling behind early.

“You can’t let that affect you, otherwise you’re just handing him the match,” he said. “And if he thinks he can just get one takedown and that’s it, against me, that’s not going to happen.”

Peninsula’s Casey Larson (145 pounds) also had a strong tournament, and although the junior lost his final match to North Central’s Mitchell Bocook, he left with a fourth-place medal, an improvement upon his eighth-place finish in 2011.

“You always think that you should’ve done better, but I did pretty good,” Larson said. “I plan on getting back here next year, and hopefully I’ll win it.”

Larson nearly had a chance to win it this year. He needed only 1:21 to pin Decatur’s Brandon Zimmerman in the first round, then dismantled Morgan Smith of Meadowdale in the quarterfinals, 13-2.

Glacier Peak’s Jacob Elledge was next in the semifinals. Larson barely missed picking up the opening points late in the first period, and Elledge responded by dominating the second period. He picked up a reversal out of the bottom position, and quickly turned it into a near fall to lead 7-3 with two minutes left.

Larson worked from the bottom in the third period, and he escaped with 55 seconds left. He also picked up a point as Elledge was called for stalling, but couldn’t finish two low tackle attempts and lost, 7-5.

Larson then pinned O’Dea’s Gage Anderson in 2:02, but he couldn’t get loose against Bocook and had another late comeback fall short, 4-3.

“We wrestled hard the whole time, and he just came out on top by one point,” Larson said. “And those minute points at state, that’s what determines the matches.”

At 132 pounds, Randy Nimrick also earned a fourth-place medal. And the junior had to do it the hard way after losing his opener, a 12-4 decision to top-ranked Dillon Harris of Yelm.

Nimrick showed some fortitude and won his next two bouts to move on to Saturday’s medal round. He ripped through Oak Harbor’s Mark Johnston, getting two takedowns and a near fall en route to a 9-1 triumph, then had a similar result against Boyce Johnson of Sedro-Woolley, winning 9-2.

On Saturday, Nimrick controlled Capital senior David Griffith from start to finish for a 9-5 win, then won his fourth straight match by scoring the first seven points to beat Sedro-Woolley freshman Jake Farrell, 11-5.

Against Tyler Weiss of Camas, Nimrick coughed up a late reversal and fell victim to some questionable calls in overtime, losing 7-5 to settle for fourth.

Peninsula junior 152-pounder Jake Ricco qualified for his first Mat Classic trip, but he failed to advance to the medal round. Ricco lost 15-3 to University’s Adrian Orndorff, and was pinned by O’Dea’s Trenton Tibbetts.

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.