Mat Classic XXXV: Orting in line for 2A three-peat, boasting nine semifinalists
At Thursday night’s wrestling practice at Orting High School – the final tune-up in preparation for the Tacoma Dome’s Mat Classic XXXV – head coach Jody Coleman was presented with a surprising question, one asked by the entire team: “Can we have practice on Monday?”
It was the eve of the WIAA’s annual state wrestling championships, but the idea of hanging up the cleats in three short days never crossed Orting’s mind.
It’s how the Cardinals are wired. After all, Coleman’s crew blew 2A competition out of the water each of the past two seasons at Mat Classics XXXIII and XXXIV, now two-time defending team champions. And with six returning individual champs, the Cardinals are absolutely back in the driver’s seat to finish off an elusive team three-peat at the Tacoma Dome Saturday night.
“With some of these teams with two or three kids, or maybe they haven’t been here before… maybe you see them walk around and stare at the lights. Our older kids, they just walk around (the Dome) like they own it,” Coleman said. “The younger kids feed off that. It just builds confidence throughout.”
Orting’s Dominic Thomas was the first Cardinal to rebook his trip to the Mat Classic semifinals, and eight teammates followed throughout Friday afternoon. A total of nine Cardinals, the same number of semifinalists the program sent last year, are through to Saturday.
Alan Salguero Jr., a two-time TNT Untouchables pick, coasted through Friday’s 2A 126 quarterfinals in 74 seconds. The Orting junior won via injury forfeit in the first round and wasted little time in his only first-day bout, taking down Othello’s Mason Russell in quick fashion.
For Salguero Jr., with a third title on the line? It’s just another weekend.
“My goal is to have fun no matter what, win or lose,” he said. “It doesn’t matter to me.
“I’ve done this two times already… I know what to expect. I know what to do.”
Salguero Jr. missed much of December due to a knee injury and bone bruise. It wasn’t a factor Friday.
“I’d never want to miss state,” Salguero Jr. said.
Trevor Anderson coasted through the 2A 120 quarterfinals, taking down Ephrata’s Alex Guitterez with a technical fall.
Orting’s Bryan Dickerson took down Ellensburg’s Leif Holmgren in the 2A 132 via fall in 79 seconds. Joined by Laithan Lawson, Orting boasts two Cardinals in the 132-pound bracket – and if both win their semifinal rounds Saturday morning, Lawson and Dickerson would wrestle each other for that title.
Orting’s Quentin Harding (138), another TNT Untouchables pick, won both of his Friday bouts by fall.
Apollo Cruz, a two-time champion, won in similar fashion with two wins by fall in the 2A 150. The first, a win over Aberdeen’s Michael Hatton, took just 49 seconds.
“Apollo shows up to work,” Coleman said. “He’s one of those kids where, when the lights are turned on, he’s just better. He always rises to the occasion.”
Orting’s Levi DiCugno rounded out the group of nine Cardinals in the semifinals.
Five of the program’s six defending champions -- Cruz, Dickerson, Harding, and Salguero Jr., and Thomas -- remain in contention. The first four are in line for individual three-peats.
The horde of Orting semifinalists produced a lopsided team scoreboard, like those the Cardinals destroyed in 2022-23 – Coleman’s wrestlers ended Friday with 128 points, more than double that of second-place Othello in the 2A boys rankings. White River (third) and W.F West (fourth) are the South Sound’s other current top-five 2A representatives.
Tonasket sits atop the 1B/2B leaderboard with 100 points, sending eight wrestlers to Saturday semifinals.
Tahoma, meanwhile, leads the 4A pack with 105.5 points, closely followed by Chiawana (91).
Peninsula’s girls program (73 points) holds a slim lead over Curtis (63) in 3A/4A competition.
