Mat Classic XXXIV notes: Ten South Sound wrestlers win back-to-back state titles

Ten wrestlers from South Sound high school programs successfully defended their state titles Saturday at Mat Classic XXXIV.

And three won within moments of each other on neighboring mats inside the Tacoma Dome.

Sumner junior Elias McDonald won the Class 4A 120-pound title match with a 5-2 decision against Tahoma’s Joe Sullivan.

One mat to the right, Orting sophomore A.J. Salguero won the 2A 120-pound title with a 6-1 decision over Centralia’s Jesus Campos.

To the right of that match, Mount Tahoma’s Zeta Lee pinned Sunnyside’s Alexxus Ramos in 5:17 to win a second consecutive 110-pound championship in the 4A/3A Girls division.

After that, South Sound competitors kept rattling off repeats.

Orting added three more back-to-back victors in consecutive matches in the 2A division. Sophomore Quentin Harding won a 6-4 decision over Grandview’s Evan Benitez at 126. Junior Bryan Dickerson won a 9-0 major decision over West Valley of Spokane’s Logan Utecht at 132. And junior Apollo Cruz added a 7-4 decision over Pullman’s Israel Acosta at 138.

Silas senior Elijah Cater pinned his way to a repeat with a win over Mount Spokane’s Jayson Bonnett in the 3A 126-pound bracket.

Each of the three South Sound wrestlers who were members of TNT’s 2023 class of “Untouchables” — Salguero, South Kitsap senior Mitchell Neiner and Sumner junior Cody Miller — also completed back-to-back championship runs.

“It takes a lot of hard work,” Salguero said of winning a second consecutive title. “I’ve been practicing for this for years now.”

Neiner, who is headed to Division I wrestling program Cal Baptist, closed out his career and an undefeated final season with a second title win by 14-5 major decision against Skyview’s Owen Pritchard.

Neiner is the second wrestler in South Kitsap’s program history to win a pair of individual titles.

But, Neiner was perhaps most excited about helping the Wolves to an eventual second-place finish in the 4A team race.

“That’s exciting,” he said. “I’m really proud of the guys. They put in a lot of work this season.”

Neiner also runs South Kitsap wrestling’s Instagram page, and takes photos and creates graphics for the program.

“I’ve really been enjoying it,” he said following his quarterfinals win Friday. “You get to be creative and you get to show off your team in the best way possible.”

Miller, who remains undefeated in his career with the Spartans through three seasons, completed his second consecutive title with a 6-3 decision over Glacier Peak’s Gil Mossburg in the 4A 145-pound bracket.

Moments after the match was over Miller, sporting a spiderweb in his hair for the tournament, did a flip on the mat to celebrate the victory.

“I was a little tired, my legs were a little shaky, but I was trying to land in a Spider-Man pose,” Miller said. “A little Spider-Man flip.”

Miller, now a perfect 89-0 in his career at Sumner, is already thinking about the possibility of adding a third championship next winter.

“So much,” he said. “I just want to maintain this status and get better continuously.”

Curtis junior Clarissa Wangen, who pinned Bellingham’s Frances Porteous in 4:33, brought the South Sound’s total of repeat champions to 10 with a victory in the 4A/3A Girls 155-pound bracket.

PARKER-BORRERO CELEBRATES CHAMPIONSHIP WITH SISTER

As soon as the whistle sounded Saturday night, Graham-Kapowsin freshman Flor Parker-Borrero popped up from the mat, sprinted toward the coaches’ corner and jumped into her sister’s arms.

Moments earlier, Parker-Borrero had ended her first Mat Classic appearance with her first state title.

She built a quick lead against Camas’ Addie Wunderli in the 4A/3A Girls 140-pound final, and eventually completed her championship run with a second-round pin in 4:30 before rushing to celebrate with her sister.

“It’s really exciting, because I only started wrestling about two years ago, and I always looked up to my sister, and I never thought I would get here,” Parker-Borrero said. “So, that was really cool.”

The two sisters shared in an emotional celebration following the victory.

Jasmine Parker-Borrero, Flor’s older sister and coach, was a three-time Mat Classic champion in high school, winning titles in the girls division her freshman, sophomore and junior years from 2015-17.

She compiled an 89-1 career record in high school, and entered Mat Classic as a senior at Lakes as a member of The News Tribune’s 2018 class of “Untouchables.” She checked in for the annual state tournament that weekend, but didn’t compete.

“This moment means a lot for me,” Jasmine said Saturday evening following her sister’s state title win. “A lot of people know my fourth year I had a really rough time, and so it was hard for me to come back in the Dome or even just kind of be here.

“So, it’s amazing that the first time I step foot back in here, I get to coach my sister to a state final, and I’m hoping that she’s a four-time state champ and does what I wasn’t able to do.”

Flor Parker-Borrero is off to an impressive start in her high school career after pinning each of her four opponents at Mat Classic XXXIV.

Friday, she pinned Shorewood’s Izzy Crave in her first state match in the Tacoma Dome, and later pinned Kamiakin’s Hailey Schroder in the quarterfinals.

Saturday morning, she continued her impressive run through the bracket with a first-round pin of Richland’s Kyndra Casias.

A few hours later, she completed her title with the second-round pin of Wunderli, completing her freshman season with a 44-6 record.

“It took everything,” Flor said of the work put in to reach this title. “I practiced from 4-10 o’clock at night, between Judo practice and wrestling practice, but it was all worth it in the end.”

Graham-Kapowsin junior Ronnell Parker-Borrero also reached the finals in the 4A boys division after pinning his first-round opponent, and winning his quarterfinals and semifinals matches by major decision, and finished second in the 195-pound bracket.

He is a two-time state placer after finishing third in the 4A 195-pound bracket last winter.

Jasmine is also planning to continue on in her wrestling career at The Evergreen State College.

“It’s my comeback,” she said.

What inspired a return to the mat?

“My siblings,” she said. “Just seeing them. It just made me feel like I could do so much more.”

TACOMA TITLES

Lincoln junior Navarre Dixon is now a Mat Classic champion.

Last winter, Dixon missed an appearance in the title match by one point following a loss to eventual champion Jaxson Gribskov of Hermiston in the semifinals.

Dixon rallied with a pair of wins last February to place third in the 3A 182-pound bracket, motivated to return for a title.

This weekend? He left no doubt in four decisive wins on the way to his first championship.

“We’ve been working,” he said. “ … We started going twice a day, every day working, coming back to get what’s mine.”

Dixon won his opening match by decision Friday, then pinned his final three opponents to win the 182-pound title. In a rematch with Gribskov in the final, Dixon didn’t allow a point, and won with a first-round pin in 1:27.

“Before the match, that’s all I could tell myself is, ‘I worked for this.’ Last season I was unsure, but this year I made sure that I won the match before I stepped on the mat,” Dixon said.

Dixon’s older brother, J.J., who now wrestles at Oregon State, won a pair of Mat Classic titles with the Abes in 2017 and 2018, and Dixon is now on pace to match that.

The two had a chance to talk briefly on the phone after Saturday’s win, Dixon said, but he was excited to recap the meet with his brother later on.

“I can’t wait to get home and call him,” Dixon said.

Dixon was one of two Lincoln wrestlers to top the podium Saturday.

Abes freshman Andrew Flores also secured a championship in his first Mat Classic appearance, winning a thrilling match in overtime of the 3A 120-pound final with a takedown of Kent-Meridian’s Adonai Garza.

Two more wrestlers from Tacoma Public Schools programs earned repeat championships.

Silas senior Elijah Cater won his second consecutive Mat Classic title with a first-round pin of Mount Spokane’s Jayson Bonnett in 1:34 in the 3A 126-pound bracket.

“It means a lot,” Cater said. “Especially since I’ve only been here twice, and I’ve won both times I’ve been here.”

Mount Tahoma junior Zeta Lee collected four consecutive pins on the way to back-to-back titles in the 4A/3A Girls 110-pound bracket.

Lee pinned Shorecrest’s Ana Reed in 2:35 in her first match, River Ridge’s Maya Lindauer in 1:53 in the quarterfinals, Davis’ Gracie Pham in 3:40 in the semifinals and Sunnyside’s Alexxus Ramos in 5:17 in the final.

TWIN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Curtis juniors Sierra and Clarissa Wangen, who are twins, both topped the podium in the 4A/3A Girls meet at Mat Classic XXXIV.

“It’s so cool,” Sierra said.

“It’s amazing,” Clarissa added. “I’m super proud of her.”

“I’m super proud of her, too,” Sierra replied.

Sierra won the 130-pound bracket, pinning defending champion Bianca Johnson of Moses Lake in 5:03 to win her first state title.

“I was super proud that Sierra won, because I knew that she would have a really tough match,” Clarissa said. “Having her win after taking third last year is a super great thing.”

Minutes after Sierra’s victory, Clarissa added her second state championship with a third-round pin of Bellingham’s Frances Porteous in 4:33 at 155.

“Always so proud of her,” Sierra said.