Peninsula High wrestling team wins Matman Classic tournament
The Peninsula High School team won the 42nd annual Matman Classic wrestling tournament, hosted by Central Kitsap High School on Jan. 12, finishing with 152.5 team points, edging runner-up Curtis (145) and third-place North Mason (132).
“I think our team is coming together,” said Nathan Johnson, who won the tournament title against Cascade’s Kaige Bunsngeam in the 145-pound weight class and has a 26-7 record on the season. “We’re coming toward the end of the season, so we’re looking good and really starting to wrestle well.”
Also winning individual titles at the tournament for the Seahawks were 106-pound freshman Jadon Chitta and 152-pounder Nolan Casey.
Casey drew a familiar matchup in the finals, facing Trevor Zeitner, from crosstown rival Gig Harbor High. In his high school career, Casey has never lost to Zeitner.
“It’s kind of nice, just because I know I’m going to beat him,” Casey said, matter-of-factly. “I see him and I get a little happy. He does have some funky moves. It’s always a little bit nervous going in because he might catch you, but I feel pretty confident against him.”
Casey earned the pin against Zeitner in the third round, which he attributes to the conditioning level in the Peninsula wrestling room.
“Just with our mat room presence, I can tell we’re in better shape than Gig Harbor, and a lot of other teams,” Casey said. “They hit their max in the first, second period. Our program, we have the most in-shape guys.”
Not that being in good shape is necessarily fun during practice.
“It’s kind of miserable,” Casey said, with a laugh. “The day our dual meet against Yelm, we had a practice and I lost four pounds of water weight, just because we were drilling. We really don’t stop and take easy days off. We don’t have the best talent, we just work hard enough during the week that we always have a chance.”
The Peninsula program, led by coach Mark Nickels, also goes out of its way to find tough matchups for its wrestlers. This season, the Seahawks have competed in the Matman Classic, the Gut Check Challenge, as well as the Pacific Coast Wrestling Championships.
“Our coaches put us in tough tournaments,” Johnson said. “It’s nice to see some Oregon kids, some kids from 4A schools. It just gives you more diversity, because we see the same kids all the time in tournaments around here. It’s the same kids over and over again. So getting that diversity allows you to wrestle with other kids you normally wouldn’t wrestle, which is good experience going into state and regionals. It gives you a lot more confidence.”
For Chitta, a freshman in the lightweight class who has a 16-8 record on the season, it was his first tournament title in his high school career. He pinned Graham-Kapowsin’s Erik Morales, avenging an earlier season loss in the Pacific Coast tournament.
“That was really cool,” Chitta said. “I got to stand up there on the podium. All my teammates were cheering me on.”
Chitta recently moved from the Camas school district, and said the Peninsula program has been helpful to his development.
“The coaches are really nice, really supportive,” Chitta said. “They help you a lot.”
Gig Harbor High School’s Zayne Ball won the 170-pound title at the tournament.
Peninsula won the tournament without the help of one of its top wrestlers in 160-pounder Isaac Casey, who is currently sidelined with an injury, but is expected back soon. For the Casey brothers and Johnson, the focus will soon be shifted toward the Mat Classic state tournament at the Tacoma Dome.
“State is where it really counts,” Casey said. “It doesn’t matter how many tournaments you win in the regular season, it comes down to one. No one cares about these little ones at the end of the season. You just have to keep going.”