TACOMA — The second round undid Port Angeles’ ambitions for a 2A team state wrestling title.
The first round Friday at the Tacoma Dome was as advertised as the Roughriders won seven of their 10 matches and were in second place in the early going.
Orting led after the first round with 24 points while the Riders were right behind with 22, within easy striking distance for that elusive team crown.
And then the wheels came off in the quarterfinals later Friday.
The Riders lost five of the seven quarterfinal matches, advancing just two to the semifinals — and those two lost Saturday morning as Port Angeles ended up with no representatives in the title matches.
By the end of the day Friday, though, the Riders slipped to No. 8 in the team standings with 33 points while Othello, the No. 2-ranked team coming in, had grabbed the lead with 59.5, Orting had 50.5 for a solid second and Deer Park, the No. 1-ranked team, was in third with 45.
There were a few early shockers for the Riders as No. 3-ranked Brian Cristion lost in the 170-pound quarterfinals and heavyweight Michael Myers — who was dominating in the early going — was disqualified in the quarterfinals.
Myers pinned his first-round opponent in 4:58 and then was leading Robert Luna of Toppenish 5-0 in the quarterfinals when he was disqualified from the match and the tournament after biting Luna on the left forearm.
Lost points
That meant that not only would the Riders not get important points later in the tournament from Myers, but that also erased Myers’ first-round pin from their team points.
In the meantime, Cristion rebounded and won his way into the third-place match, finally claiming fourth place for the second year in a row.
He went 3-0 in the consolation round, beating nemesis Aaron Dickson of Kingston 2-0 in the consolation semifinals.
Dickson, ranked No. 2 in state, beat Cristion in the subregional semifinals (9-1) and the regional finals (4-3) before the senior Rider turned the tables at state.
Cristion was upset 6-4 by John Santos of Steilacoom in the quarterfinals.
Coach Erik Gonzalez warned that the quarterfinals would be Cristion’s toughest match in the first three rounds.
Santos ended up going against Dickson in the fifth-sixth place final after losing in the championship semifinals and then the consolation semifinals.
In the third-place final, Billy Tufts of W.F. West defeated Cristion 2-0.
Junior Ozzy Swagerty, ranked No. 6 at 126 pounds, ended up capturing fourth place for the Riders after losing 4-3 in the quarterfinals to No. 3-ranked Try Meyer of East Valley (Spokane).
Swagerty won two consolation matches before beating No. 4-ranked Steven Martinez of Toppenish 3-0 in the consolation semifinals.
In the third-place final, Meyer beat Swagerty for the second time in the tourney, this time 3-1.
Also placing for the Riders were freshman Tyler Gale at 106 and both Kyle LaFritz and Roberto Coronel at 220.
Gale and LaFritz, a sophomore, both claimed fifth place at their weights while Coronel took seventh.
Gale, ranked No. 7, defeated No. 4-ranked Bailey McBride of Cedarcrest 11-3 in the fifth-place match.
LaFritz, meanwhile, ranked No.10, beat Spencer Pedroni of Fife 8-7 for fifth, while Coronel defeated Jay Moore of Sedro-Woolley 4-1 for seventh.
Coronel had a tough bracket, losing by pin to No. 1-ranked Jace Malek of West Valley (Spokane) in the first round, and then having to win two straight matches to place.
Coronel, ranked No. 9, beat fourth-ranked Raul Pech of Toppenish 5-0 in the match that guaranteed state placement.
Forks title try
The 1A Forks Spartans, meanwhile, had the only North Olympic Peninsula wrestler with a chance to win a 2013 state championship.
Sophomore heavyweight Miguel Morales won his first three matches to earn a spot in the 1A title match late Saturday night.
To get there, Morales won all three matches by pins.
He pinned No. 2-ranked Jeremiah Atkins of Zillah in 5:12 of the semifinal match to earn a spot against third-ranked Cody Zyph of Kiona-Benton in the finals.
Morales, ranked No. 7 coming in to the tourney, pinned eighth-ranked Dustin Olson of Jenkins (Chewelah) in the first round and ninth-ranked Joseph Pruneda of Warden in the quarterfinals.
Also placing for the Spartans were junior Joel Ward at 220, sophomore Sebastian Morales at 106 and Ricky Barragan at 138.
Ward, ranked No. 3, captured third place after beating Teigan Glidenwell of Freeman 9-4 in the third-place final.
Ward won his first two matches by pins before losing to second-ranked Asa Schwartz of Chelan 7-1 in the semifinals.
He rebounded in the consolation bracket, winning the final two matches for third place.
Sebastian Morales claimed seventh place by a 7-0 score over Oscar Ortiz of Connell.
Morales lost in the first round and had to win two straight consolation matches to earn state placement.
Barragan, meanwhile, took eighth place after losing 8-1 to second-ranked Jacob James of Cashmere in the seventh-place match.
