Three Redmond High wrestlers and one alternate pinned down state berths to the Mat Classic at the Tacoma Dome last weekend.
On the girls’ side, Catherine Kelly dominated the 119-pound class at the Girls’ Region 1 Tournament at Sedro-Woolley High School, achieving two first-round pins and winning the regional title with a late second-round pin of Mount Baker senior Roxanne Rosas in 3:51.
Senior Joe Glass, wrestling at 189 pounds at the Region 2 competition at Skyline High, started his run with a second-round pin of Rogers’ sophomore Gavin Kovacs and outlasted Bethel’s Joel Ragazzo 6-2 in the semifinals before Emerald Ridge senior Colten Williams pinned him in two minutes, 50 seconds in the championship match.
At 171, Simeon Simov took the hard route to state, falling by pin in his first round and then pinning Inglemoor senior Tyler Patrick in the consolation bracket to stay alive.
In a rematch of the Kingco finals with another Viking, Ben Grabowski, the Inglemoor wrestler once again had the upper hand in an 8-1 victory.
That set up a winner-to-state bout for the 5th/6th place finals, and Simov outlasted Jeremy Misailegalu of Puyallup 8-5 to take the fifth and final spot to state.
Senior Brandon Long was forced to battle Viking standout Anthony Bratcher, who shut him out 12-0 in the Kingco Championship finals. In the consolation bracket semifinals, Long lost again 14-4.
In the 5th/6th place finals, Issaquah’s Almen Thorpe shut out Long 7-0, sending Long to state as an alternate.
Kelly, Glass and Simov will advance to the Mat Classic, which gets underway this Friday at 10 a.m. at the Tacoma Dome. Long, the alternate at 135, will wrestle should a higher seed scratch prior to the start of the first round.
SPINRAD NAILS DOWN STATE GYMNASTICS BERTH
The Redmond High gymnastics team’s only state returner, Cristal Spinrad, will be Redmond’s lone state representative after a tough run at the District 1/2 4A Championships at Sammamish High last Saturday.
Difficult judging led to low scores for all teams, with Spinrad’s 8.125 good enough for the fifth and final spot to state on the bars.
Last year, Spinrad placed seventh at state with a score of 8.275 in the bars finals, just behind teammate Akari Matsumoto who placed sixth with 8.3.
“It was a tough meet,” said Redmond head coach Jason Farr. “The girls did great, though. I’m proud of all of them.”
The state gymnastics championships will begin this Friday at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall, starting at 9 a.m.
KLASSEN BOYS HEADED TO STATE DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Redmond High’s Phillip and Eric Klassen will be headed to the 4A State Swim & Dive Championships this Friday and Saturday at the Weyerhauser King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way to vie for the diving title.
Phillip, a sophomore, won the Sea-King 4A District 2 Championships at the University of Washington Pavilion Pool last weekend, earning a score of 358.10, just short of his season high of 361.35.
He will go into state as the fifth seed, with South Kitsap senior Joseph Rose the favorite to win having posted a season-high 438.50 score earlier this year.
Phillip’s younger brother Eric, a freshman, earned the 11th seed to state with a qualifying score of 337.55 and is the highest-seeded freshman in the state field.
The Klassens will begin competition on Friday at 9:45 a.m., with the finals beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
