Chiawana wrestlers basking in afterglow of 4th consecutive 4A state team title
Manny Plata thought his Chiawana Riverhawks could put together a good enough tournament in the Tacoma Dome last weekend that maybe, just maybe, they could win a fourth straight Class 4A state team title at Mat Classic.
This despite other 4A teams having more entries than Chiawana’s 12.
But in the end, the Riverhawks did it again — in Plata’s first year as head coach.
The top three teams: Chiawana with 151 points, South Kitsap at 130, and Sumner at 127.
Sunnyside finished fifth with 116 points, and Hanford was eighth with 74.
“I am still soaking everything in,” said Plata. “It was an awesome weekend. The boys wrestled well. I knew once we got to state we had the quality wrestlers. They did what they needed to do.”
Led by sophomore Daeton Johnson at 126 pounds, and senior Isaiah Medina at 113 — the two Riverhawks earned state championships — Chiawana rolled up enough points to win.
Plata’s squad scored a lot of points in the first round, as nine wrestlers had pins.
Each wrestler scores 2 points toward the team score each time they advance in the tournament. They earn 2 bonus points when they pin their opponent.
“That’s 36 points in the first round,” said Plata.
Other Riverhawks placing in the top five of their weight classes were senior Por Htoo (fourth at 113 pounds), sophomore Adrian Shima (fourth at 120), junior Jordan Tobias (third at 138), and senior Judah Bishop (fifth at 170).
Johnson may have been the most impressive of the bunch. He pinned all four of his opponents, capped with stopping Tahoma’s Nathan Curry in 1 minute, 51 seconds, in the championship. Johnson’s final season record was 34-5.
“I love wrestling,” said Johnson. “I’ve grown up watching wrestling. I love the physicality and the discipline of it. And I like the idea that you are responsible for what happens on the mat.”
Medina, meanwhile, finished his prep career by winning a second state title. He beat Lake Stevens’ Jacob Christianson 6-4 in the title match, and finished his season with a 23-3 record.
“I just feel the best people in the state are in our practice room, every day,” said Medina, who is hoping to attend Evergreen State College in the fall to wrestle for its new program. “
Ironically, Medina beat Johnson in last year’s 113-pound title match.
“It made it a little less awkward this time not having to wrestle my teammate for a title,” said Medina.
Sunnyside senior Alejandro Fernandez defended his state title by beating Union’s Noah Koyama in a major decision score of 9-1 at 132 pounds. Fernandez finished with a 39-5 season record.
Among the Grizzlies teammates of his who finished in the top five were senior Mateo Armendariz, who finished his season at 40-6 with a second-place finish at 285 pounds; David Gutierrez (fifth at 182), Jayden Jasso (second at 106), Bryan Madrigal (fifth at 126), and Christopher Villanueva (fourth at 145).
And Hanford senior Jake Hubby won a second state title, this one at 152 pounds, beating Sumner’s Drake Thompson 2-1 in a tiebreaker. Hubby completed his season with a 37-3 record.
Hubby’s teammates — junior Eli Perkes at 170, and junior Caden Wilson at 160 — finished 2-3 respectively. Wilson completed his season with a 40-3 record.
Plata said the team will take a few weeks off.
“Then they’ll want to go into freestyle and Greco season,” said Plata. “They’re amazing. I’m sure after a week they’ll start knocking on my door and ask me to open the room.”
If not, Johnson said he and his teammates have a Plan B.
“We might run a few practices this Thursday and Friday (without the coaches),” said Johnson. “One of our teammates has wrestling mats rolled up at his house.”
Class 3A boys wrestling
Southridge junior Jacob Chapa earned his second state title in as many years, winning 6-5 in a tiebreaker over Spanaway Lake’s Logan Heath at 113 pounds.
Chapa had a 45-5 record this season.
The other area wrestler with a state crown was Walla Walla senior Mateo Caso at 152 pounds.
He beat Arlington’s Dustin Baxter 4-2 in sudden victory.
Although it had no state champions, Hermiston finished second in the team scoring race with 172.5. Mead won with 199.5 points.
Top Hermiston placers were Carlos Cervantes (second at 106), Aiden Favorite (third at 120, and 35-5 record), Daniel Garza (fifth at 138), Ben Larson (fifth at 170), Jacoby Rodriguez (sixth at 113), and Jaysen Rodriguez (third at 132).
Bulldogs senior Jaxson Gribskov, who won a state title last year at 181 pounds, finished second at the same weight on Saturday.
Joining Chapa on the podium was Suns teammate Trevor Hoopes, who finished third at 285 pounds and had a 45-8 record. Southridge placed 12th in team standings with 68 points
Joining Caso was Wa-Hi teammate Jon Smith, who placed fifth at 285. The Blue Devils scored 55 points, finishing 15th in the team standings.
(The remaining classifications will be recapped tomorrow).
3A girls basketball
No. 16 Kennewick, down 10 points at the end of the third quarter, outscored No. 17 Eastside Catholic 34-12 in the fourth quarter and overtime to win a first-round 3A state playoff game 73-61.
“That wasn’t the first game where we’ve had to come from behind,” said Kennewick coach Daron Santo. “I told them at halftime that honestly if they made their free throws and layins, they’d be ahead. Actually, defensively we started getting a few stops in the fourth quarter and overtime.”
The Lions were 24 for 44 from the free throw line.
The victory gives the Lions a road game on Saturday.
They’ll play No. 9 seed Bonney Lake at 12 p.m. at Auburn High School. The winner will advance to the Tacoma Dome next Wednesday, while the loser is done for the year.
In Tuesday’s win, sophomore Dylyn Dress led the Lions with 21 points on 5-for-11 shooting from the 3-point line. She also had 5 rebounds.
“She was on tonight,” said Santo. “She was actually playing hurt with a rib injury. But she stayed tough.”
Emily Kaylor finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds, making a lot of key plays in the fourth quarter and OT.
Haylee Johnson added 13 points and 6 rebounds for Kennewick.
The Lions outscored the Crusaders 21-11 in the fourth quarter. But it took a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer by EC’s Mia Hizer to force the overtime.
In overtime, Kennewick outscored EC 13-1 to clinch the win.
Isabel Sullivan led the Crusaders with 26 points and 9 rebounds. But she was one of four EC players who fouled out.
3A boys basketball
Walla Walla led 27-15 at halftime and hung on in the final minute, sinking 7 of 8 free throws, to beat Mount Vernon 55-46 in a loser-out 3A state tournament game on Tuesday.
It means the Blue Devils — ranked 20th out of the 20-team tournament — play at No. 12 Arlington at 8 p.m., Saturday, in another loser-out game.
Wa-Hi coach Adam Berg said his team is starting to come on at the right time.
“We struggled a lot this season in learning how to win games,” said Berg. “But we’ve started to control teams when they put on a run. Mount Vernon put on a great run, but we settled down and made some shots. I’ve never thought we’re a 20 seed.”
Ken Higgins had 18 points to lead Walla Walla.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
