Redmond High School junior Catherine Kelly, wrestling at 112 pounds in the girls’ division, completed a stellar run through the Class 4A state field to place fourth at Mat Classic XXII, a two-day tournament held at the Tacoma Dome last weekend.
“I really wanted to place fourth and above, that was my motivation,” Kelly said. “It was more mental, that I could do it, I guess.”
Kelly, the first female wrestler in the history of Redmond High School and this season’s only state returner, pinned Wilson High’s Sarah Gamache in her first-round match Feb. 19. Kelly was then sent down to the consolation bracket after No. 1 seed Bianca Arizpe of Federal Way outlasted her, 7-3, in a matchup that went the distance.
Needing a win to advance to Feb. 20’s competition and be guaranteed a place on the podium, Kelly wore out White River senior Sam Lovelace and pinned her at four minutes and 48 seconds.
“Dropping into consolation is always tough,” said longtime Redmond head coach Paul Mullen. “You have to win so many matches to get back into it.”
Being guaranteed a trophy, Kelly didn’t stop there.
In her opening bout on Saturday, Kelly made quick work of Sedro-Wooley junior Andrea Iversen, achieving a pin in 1:44. After that, Kelly was faced with her most daunting task of the long, grinding season: She had to beat Stanwood’s Casey Mather, who had beaten her at sub-regional meet, 8-2, and outlasted Kelly again in the regional finals, 4-3.
Would the third time be the charm?
“We made some adjustments, we knew she liked to try and roll her, and tried not to let that frustrate her,” said Mullen on their pre-match strategy against Mather. “We didn’t want to take bad shots and give up silly points. We did some ankle-riding, to take away the fact that she does like to roll you on top.”
The strategy worked to perfection as Kelly earned a 3-0 victory, fueled by an early-round escape and takedown.
Although she fell to Union’s Tiffany Hu in the 3rd-4th place final, the accolades of Kelly’s performance are impressive.
Not only is she the first female state placer, but Kelly is also the first returning state placer at Redmond in 12 years, since Tom Heier won it all in 1997 and then earned a fifth-place finish at the 1998 Mat Classic.
And the best part yet is that Kelly will be returning next year as one of the state favorites in her weight class.
“That doesn’t hurt,” said Mullen on Kelly’s return for 2010-11. “Now that we’ve got a state placer. We’re going to use that a little to try and recruit more girls to try out for the wrestling team.”
After wrestling six matches in two days, did Kelly have anything left in the tank?
“Not really,” she replied with a smile. “We’re ready to go eat lunch.”
Redmond High’s Tyler Black, wrestling at 215, also made the state tournament, but was pinned by Wenatchee senior Lucas Sealby at 3:26 and then lost a battle with Gig Harbor’s Jake Baker, 7-2, to get eliminated in the first day of action.
To view or purchase photos of Catherine from the Mat Classic, please visit photographer Matt Campbell’s Web site at www.sportspixs.com
