Orting wins six individual titles at Mat Classic XXXIV, repeats as 2A team champions
Orting High School wrestling coach Jody Coleman had a permanent seat at the edge of the Class 2A mat Saturday night during the first two hours of finals matches at the Tacoma Dome.
For the second consecutive season, the Cardinals sent six wrestlers to the championship round in the first six weight brackets at Mat Classic XXXIV.
And for the second consecutive season, they swept those matches on the way to back-to-back 2A team titles at the annual state tournament.
“It’s really surreal,” Orting sophomore A.J. Salguero said. “It’s super amazing. I’m not surprised at all, because we put in all that hard work this past season, grinding all the time and not letting anyone beat us.”
The Cardinals entered Saturday morning with a convincing lead in the team race, after advancing nine wrestlers to the semifinals Friday, sent seven to title matches Saturday afternoon, and departed Tacoma with 12 state placers.
Like last February at this meet, they crowned six individual champions — including four who locked up second consecutive titles.
“I think everybody knows what we’ve got coming,” Coleman said. “We’ve been working on it for 10 years, trying to get these kids here, and watching them grow and watching them just come up the pipeline. Ever since they were little, they traveled together, they are all best friends.
“It’s a really fun wrestling community. I think everybody knows. They’ve seen it. So, here it is.”
Orting piled up more points in the championship rounds Saturday, eventually giving the Cardinals 258.5 for the tournament, well ahead of the rest of the 2A podium programs in W.F. West (132), Othello (126) and Burlington-Edison (99.5).
Freshman Dominic Thomas opened Orting’s run of titles in the 106-pound bracket, completing a perfect season by shutting out Washington’s Daniel Herrera Sanchez by 10-0 major decision.
When the match was over, just as the Cardinals wrestlers did last season at the Tacoma Dome after a championship win, Thomas turned toward the crowd and lifted his hands in the air to form an ‘O’ as the Orting fans cheered.
Then he joined Coleman — this season in his familiar red suit with a shiny golden vest and golden shoes — and the Cardinals’ coaches at the corner of the mat to celebrate.
“It’s about the beginning, and how it starts,” Salguero said. “Our 106, Dominic, when he started off, that’s when he sets the tone for us to keep on going.”
Freshman Michael Fritz followed up with another shutout at 113, besting Othello’s Isaac Campos by 8-0 major decision in the second match of the evening.
Orting’s next four matches featured returning state champions — and all four Cardinals wrestlers successfully defended their titles.
Salguero, a sophomore who was part of The News Tribune’s class of “Untouchables” this season, defended his title from a season ago with a 6-1 decision over Centralia’s Jesus Campos at 120.
Minutes later, sophomore Quentin Harding secured a repeat title with a 6-4 decision against Grandview’s Evan Benitez in the 126-pound bracket.
Junior Bryan Dickerson followed up with another shutout at 132, beating West Valley of Spokane’s Logan Utecht, 9-0.
Then junior Apollo Cruz completed Orting’s sweep of the first six weight classes with a 7-4 decision over Pullman’s Israel Acosta at 138.
“When it does happen like that, it’s very contagious,” Coleman said of the Cardinals winning so many consecutive matches in the finals the past two seasons. “ … They just feed off that energy.”
Orting also sent six more wrestlers to the podium in sophomore Brock Armstrong (fifth, 132), senior Matthew Gore (fourth, 145), senior Dalton Reed (third, 182), senior Hunter Sonnenberg (second, 195), junior Whyatt Larson Phelen (third, 195) and senior Cedar Lundberg (fifth, 220) on the way to the 2A team title.
The Cardinals were one of four programs that earned repeat team championships Saturday evening.
Toppenish completed another statement performance with 375 points — the most scored by any team in the Tacoma Dome this season — to win a second consecutive 1A team title. It was also the fourth consecutive team title overall for the program, which also won the 2A meet in back-to-back seasons in 2019 and 2020.
The Wildcats sent 12 wrestlers to the finals and crowned nine individual champions Saturday. They sent 15 to the podium overall in the meet, and won their division by more than 175 points.
Mount Baker (99 points), Omak (86.5) and La Center were the other three programs that reached the podium in the 1A meet.
How has Toppenish built such a perennial powerhouse?
“Let me tell you, countless hours, lots of coaches, volunteer coaches, parents, year-long training with different coaches,” Toppenish coach Pepe Segovia said. “It’s a lot of work.”
Toppenish’s girls program also earned a second consecutive team title, sending 10 wrestlers to the podium in the 2A/1A/2B/1B meet, including six individual champions.
Chiawana secured a repeat championship in the 4A meet with 151 points, finishing ahead of three South Sound contenders in South Kitsap (130), Sumner (127) and Tahoma (121.5). Two wrestlers won individual championships to pace the Riverhawks to their fourth consecutive team title.
Mead, which had one individual champion, earned a second consecutive team title in the 3A meet with 199.5 points, ahead of Hermiston (172.5), Stanwood (162) and Mount Spokane (161).
Tonasket won the 2B/1B boys team title with 202.5 points, beating out Forks (156.5), Jenkins (123) and Okanogan (103), while defending champion Granger finished fifth.
Moses Lake (136 points) won the 4A/3A girls championship in the first season the girls tournament was split into two divisions, ahead of three South Sound programs in Curtis (120), Yelm (109) and Graham-Kapowsin (89).
Eleven of the wrestlers in TNT’s 2023 class of “Untouchables” swept their brackets at the Tacoma Dome.
North Kitsap’s Sofian Hammou (2A, 220), Sumner’s Cody Miller (4A, 145), Bremerton’s Thor Michaelson (2A, 170), Bremerton’s Lars Michaelson (2A, 182), South Kitsap’s Mitchell Neiner (4A, 138), Granger’s Conan Northwind (2B/1B, 182), University’s Q’Veli Quintanilla (3A, 145), University’s Libby Roberts (4A/3A Girls, 105), Orting’s A.J. Salguero (2A, 120), Marysville-Pilchuck’s Alivia White (4A/3A Girls, 190) and Toppenish’s Jermiah Zuniga (1A, 152) all won repeat titles.
Northwind, Quintanilla, White and Zuniga each finished their high school careers with three Mat Classic championships.
This story was originally published February 18, 2023 at 10:53 PM.
