Mat Classic XXXV: Orting captures 2A three-peat; Tahoma wins 4A title
Moments after Bryan Dickerson dominated his 2A 132 semifinal by major decision, Orting’s two-time state champion raised his arms and pointed to the Tacoma Dome’s nearby bleachers, where a sea of spectators in red rose to congratulate their championship finalist at Mat Classic XXXV.
And Dickerson, still hours from his title bout and awaiting his chance for a three-peat, stuck around. He plopped down one mat over, where the adjacent 132 semifinal would soon crown his future opponent.
The twist? It was Orting freshman Laithan Lawson who proved victorious.
Dickerson, a senior, first won by major decision over Clarkston’s Dawson Bailey by 9-1 major decision, and Lawson followed minutes later with an 11-3 defeat of Othello’s Anthony Abundiz.
Dickerson and Lawson – teammates and friends – would wrestle each other for the 2A 132 title Saturday afternoon.
Lawson, with happy tears, stormed off the mat and embraced Dickerson, seemingly unaware they would be pit against each other in a matter of hours. But they knew.
“Yeah, a little (bittersweet),” Lawson told The News Tribune. “(Bryan’s) worked hard for it, too. He worked hard all three years. I can’t give it to him, but I can make him work.
“I anticipate a good match. It’ll be hard. He won’t give me (anything) easy.”
Nine Orting semifinalists reached championship Saturday at the Tacoma Dome, and the Cardinals, already back-to-back 2A team champions, soon captured their elusive “three-peat,” featuring five state champions on this year’s podiums.
Of those nine wrestlers, eight advanced to the championship round – one more than their seven finalists at last year’s Mat Classic – and the Cardinals crashed the 2A leaderboard with 299.5 points.
Lawson, meanwhile, had reached the championship bout at his first state tournament. He’s one of several Cardinals from a local youth program that coach Jody Coleman “put into overdrive” a decade ago.
“It’s just like planting seeds in a garden,” Coleman said. “We did all of that work 10 years ago.
“Here it is now. … Here they are.”
“My practice partners are all state champs,” Dickerson said. “Every single day in the practice room, I’m wrestling tougher opponents than I am here. I go in confident knowing that I’m better, because I have better partners.”
Dominic Thomas (2A 113) was Orting’s first title-winner Saturday, taking down Othello’s Isaac Campos with a technical fall.
Within the hour, A.J. Salguero was Orting’s second champion. The two-time TNT Untouchables selection won by major decision, 11-2, over Grandview’s Evan Benitez.
Salguero marked Orting’s first three-peat.
Then came the rivalry title bout, where Dickerson would not be denied. He defeated Lawson via fall midway through the 2A 132 championship, and claimed a three-peat of his own.
“It’s a wonderful feeling,” Dickerson said. “Best feeling in the world.
“It’s another wrestling match. (Lawson) was the opponent in my way for my third title. I wrestled him like I’d wrestle anybody else, but I wish nothing but the best for him.”
Quentin Harding (138), another TNT 2024 Untouchables pick, secured his three-peat by 5-2 decision, and Levi DiCugno grabbed the 2A 175 title over W.F. West’s Tucker Land.
All of it brought Orting its third-straight 2A team title – cementing the program’s best stretch since the Cardinals won four straight titles as a 1A school in 2008-11.
“I think it was expected amongst the group, but I know they are proud,” Coleman said. “When we go into town, we’re always greeted by the cops and fire department. They run us through. I know the kids will love that.”
TAHOMA WINS 4A TEAM TITLE
At Mat Classic XXXII in 2021, local wrestler and now-South Kitsap’s 4A-144 champion Stone Hartford approached an admittedly-animated Tahoma head coach Chris Feist mid-bout: “Coach, the calmer the rider, the calmer the horse.”
Feist had known Hartford for years, dating back to the latter’s time in junior wrestling. And Feist knew that Hartford was right.
Saturday, Feist was instead cool, calm, and collected – even when Tahoma mathematically clinched the 4A team title, the program’s first since 2017, and 120-pound sophomore Crew Lambro grabbed the Bears’ lone individual title at the Tacoma Dome.
Tahoma had plenty of time to celebrate: the trophy was theirs before championship bouts began.
The Bears piled 193.5 points and featured a dozen wrestlers on the podium, both state records.
“It’s been a great weekend,” Feist admitted. “I had to buy into my own constant reminders to the kids… it’s all good. If we go and (win it), that’s good, let’s celebrate. If we don’t, it’s good. Let’s set a new goal and continue coming together as a family and come back next year.
“It helped us focus on the important things, like effort, and family, being gritty. They needed that today. It’s a roller-coaster.”
Tahoma sent seven wrestlers to Saturday morning’s semifinals before Lambro represented 4A’s best team atop the podium. The Bears are state champions for the first time in seven years – since 2017 – denying runner-up and defending-champion Chiawana’s repeat bid.
“Focusing more on process, focusing on the Tahoma way,” Feist said. “We talk about it deliberately in a team meeting, in a classroom, every week. … How do we point out grit when it’s happening? How do we talk about family and rallying around each other when you’re in the finals and (five teammates) are not?
“We deliberately find opportunities to celebrate each other. We shake hands after every practice. We get in a big line, and every teammate touches each other’s hand. We tell each other, ‘Hey, I love you,’ and someone says it back to you.”
Mead High School overpowered their field, more than doubling the 3A field for a first-place team trophy.
1A-Toppenish piled a tournament-best 330 points for the program’s fifth consecutive team title. Toppenish girls (166 points) bested runner-up Orting (103) in the 1B/2B/1A/2A ranks, its third straight win.
Tonasket (217 points) cruised to a 1B/2B first-place finish.
Peninsula’s girls program (122 points) edged Curtis (119) for the 3A/4A team title, powered by a pair of individual champions.
Both championship bouts were persuasive: Mira Sonnen (140-pound class) pinned defending-champ Flor Parker-Borrero of Graham-Kapowsin in 90 seconds. Peninsula’s Bailey Parker pinned Kent-Meridian’s Oksana Galiant in 79 seconds to claim the 3A/4A 145 title.
HALL-OF-FAME COACH STRAND CALLS IT A CAREER
Championship Saturday at Mat Classic XXXV marked the end of a long, successful Yelm era: after 50 seasons at the helm of the Tornados wrestling program, head coach Gaylord Strand is retiring.
Strand, 71, wrestled at Seattle Pacific University after graduating from Woodburn High School (Oregon) in 1970. An abrupt job offer from Yelm shortly after graduation led Strand to take the job on whim.
Perhaps it was fate.
Strand is now a Washington State Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Famer, inducted in 2009. He was named to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma, in 2017. He had coached 19 state champions entering Saturday’s Mat Classic XXXV, and added a 20th when Jonah Smith captured the 285-pound title in the final bout Strand ever coached.
Lake Harris, Yelm’s other semifinalist, fell in the championship to Mead’s Jeroen Smith.
“They’ve had a good year all along, but (in the) postseason, they’ve been exceptionally good, and focused,” Strand said. “Both placed at state last year, and they want a better placing.”
Was Saturday’s finale an emotional one?
“Oh, yeah,” Strand admitted. “It’s been happening all year. But especially today… It was pretty special.”
This story was originally published February 17, 2024 at 9:01 PM.
