Opening round of state tourney tough on Marysville wrestlers

Collectively the six Tomahawks wrestlers had as rough of a first round as possible at Mat Classic XXIII. All six M-P wrestlers lost their first match at the state tournament Feb. 18 and 19 in the Tacoma Dome, but the Tommies still came away with a pair of ribbons.

By Travis Sherer • February 24, 2011 2:28 pm
M-P senior Marcus Haughian takes down opponent Joel Ragazzo of Bethel in a 189-pound match.
M-P senior Marcus Haughian takes down opponent Joel Ragazzo of Bethel in a 189-pound match.

TACOMA — Collectively the six Tomahawks wrestlers had as rough of a first round as possible at Mat Classic XXIII.

All six M-P wrestlers lost their first match at the state tournament Feb. 18 and 19 in the Tacoma Dome, but the Tommies still came away with a pair of ribbons.

“We all got together after that first round and told each other that we were going to go through the consolations together,” said 189-pounder Marcus Haughian.

In the end, it was seniors Haughian and Blevins who came away with a trip to the podium.

“That was pretty special,” said Marysville-Pilchuck coach Craig Iversen. “It’s nice to see those two place after being with us all four years.”

Both Haughian and Blevins went to state in 2010, but Blevins bowed out early and Haughain was an alternate.

“I think that experience of being here a year and seeing what it’s like made all the difference,” said Iversen.
This year Haughian earned sixth place, going 3-3 in the tournament with one pin while Blevins took eighth, also going 3-3.

“It was a blast,” Haughian said of wrestling in the Tacoma Dome. “I can’t even describe what the feeling is like. My goal for this tournament was just to place, anything on top of that is icing on the cake.”

M-P’s other state participants saw various degrees of success, starting with 215-pounders Skyler Hatch and Thomas Hoeper, who both suffered losses in the first two rounds of the double-elimination tournament.

Christian Mendoza, at 125 pounds, followed up his first-round loss with a pin in 1:48 over Tahoma’s Jordan Jolley before bowing out in the second round of the consolation bracket.

Finally, 145-pounder Demitri Robinson also earned a pin (3:41) in his first consolation match, but earned a disqualification for an illegal hold in his second-round match because his opponent, Brandon Davidson couldn’t continue wrestling.

“That’s an unfortunate situation for both sides,” said Iversen. “Demitri is such a great kid, and in the end, (Davidson) ended up being fine and wrestling in the next round.”

The Tomahawks finished the season 12-3 overall and 3-2 in Wesco North play.