TACOMA — North Olympic Peninsula wrestlers compiled a 15-10 record in the opening round of Mat Classic XXVI at the Tacoma Dome on Friday.
Port Angeles (5-1)
Port Angeles was cruising through the first round of the Mat Classic, having advanced five of five wrestling to the afternoon’s quarterfinals before a technical violation for “fleeing the mat” with 16.7 second left in the first overtime period felled junior Roberto Coronel 4-3 in a match with Aberdeen’s Jordon Logan.
“I don’t agree with the call, both wrestlers weren’t really wrestling right there when they left the circle, but Roberto really made his own bed with a lack of aggressiveness,” Port Angeles coach Erik Gonzalez said Friday afternoon.
Coronel led 2-0 after a second-round takedown and appeared to go up 4-0 on another takedown with 50.6 seconds left in the second.
The referee, however, ruled that Logan had earned a point for an escape and one more point was assessed against Coronel for grabbing Logan’s singlet (uniform) on the takedown. As a result, the match was tied 2-2 entering the third period.
Coronel earned a point for an escape from the disadvantaged position to earn a 3-2 edge early in the third before a stall call against Coronel tied the match and sent it to the overtime period.
The Roughriders won by quick pinfalls in three of the other matches with Tyler Gale (106 pounds) earning a swift pin one minute and 21 seconds into his match; Matt Robbins pinned his opponent in 1:15; and Kyle La Fritz was even quicker with a pin after only 47 seconds.
Senior Ozzy Swagerty was in command of his 126-pound match, winning by an 8-3 decision.
“He wrestled a little conservatively,” Gonzalez said.
Sequim (0-2)
The Wolves’ Sophia Cornell (106 pounds) and Kaylee Ditlefsen both dropped their first round matches Friday morning.
Cornell lost by pin at 4:40, while Ditlefsen nearly completed a third-round comeback and was inches away from winning by pin, but couldn’t quite get her opponent’s second shoulder down. She earned three points to come within 9-8, but her opponent, Ephrata’s Chloe Spencer got the pin with one second to go in the contest.
Forks (8-6)
Title contenders Sebastian Morales (106 pounds), Joel Ward (220) and Miguel Morales (285) are still alive after the first round.
Sebastian Morales earned a 13-0 decision, Ward won by a pin at 3:37 and Miguel Morales earned victory with an early pin 1:14 into his first-round match.
Also for the Spartans, Alvaro Ortiz (113) won by pin at 4:53, Nanito Sanchez (132) won by 5-4 decision and Javier Contreras won on a buzzer-beating pin with only three-tenths of a second left in the second round.
Jack Clausen (285) won a 9-5 decision to close out the first round for the Forks boys, while the Spartans lone entrant in the girls bracket, Brooke Peterson, won by pin at 1:47.
Alan Estastegui (113), Garrison Schumack (120), Abisai Garica (138), Ricky Barragan (138), Gavin Castaneda (182) and Luke Loveless (220) all fell in their first-round contests.
Port Townsend (2-1)
The Redskins picked up wins by decision in the first two matches, a 9-4 victory by Shae Shoop at 113 pounds and a 3-0 win by Matt Cain at 152 pounds that thrilled Port Townsend coach Steve Grimm.
“My heart is racing a thousand miles an hour right now,” Grimm said moments after Cain’s win.
“These first matches at state are all about the mental aspect and who’s ready to go compete, and Shae and Mat were ready.”
Trevor Garrett (182 pounds) lost by pin 1:43 into his match to complete the first round for Port Townsend.
