Six storylines to follow at Mat Classic

From Mountain View, Union and La Center, there are plenty of good storylines to follow at the state high school wrestling championships in Tacoma.

Here are six to watch:

• Thunder on a roll — Mountain View will have six wrestlers at Mat Classic, two of which are looking for a second consecutive top-four finish. Branden Huft, last year’s third-place finisher at 106, is coming off regional and district titles at 113 pounds. Will Taisacan, who finished fourth at 106 last year, is back in the same weight class. Damon Thomas is coming off a regional title at 132 pounds. Emanuel Mendez (138), Skylar Scott (152) and Grayson Funk (170) will also compete.

• Can Union bounce back? — The Titans are a contender for a 4A team trophy at Mat Classic, along with Lake Stevens, Moses Lake and Tahoma. But Union is coming off a regional tournament where many of its top wrestlers fell short of their goals.

Alex Berfanger, last year’s state champ at 170, was pinned in the 182-pound regional final to Emmanuel Diagbe of Kent-Meridian. Michael Snediker, the state’s top-ranked wrestler at 160, lost 17-2 in the regional final to Kentlake’s Josh Beckler. The Titans qualified four additional wrestlers: Ethan Rotondo (106), Tommy Stassenberg (145), Javier Martinez (170) and Zach Berfanger (195).

• Evergreen’s big threats — Evergreen has two state-title contenders in the upper weights. Dallas Goodpaster is the state’s top-ranked wrestler at 220 pounds. Austin Wright is ranked No. 2 at 285 and is coming off a regional title. Both are looking for their third consecutive top-six finish at Mat Classic.

• Tollen seeks title — La Center’s Derick Tollen has a rich state championships pedigree in Oregon. The La Center 126-pounder placed third the past two years for Churchill High School in Eugene. Now, he’s Washington’s top-ranked 126-pounder in Class 1A.

• Washougal girls — After placing sixth at last year’s Mat Classic, the Washougal girls return six wrestlers to the Tacoma Dome. Among them are regional champions Yaneli Martinez (100 pounds) and Abby Lees (155), who placed second in that weight class last year.

• Statewide three-peats — The most intriguing bracket at Mat Classic is 132 pounds at 4A. It includes two wrestlers seeking his third consecutive state title in Michael Soler of Lake Stevens and Timmy Martinez of Pasco. Three others are looking for their third consecutive title: Central Valley’s Blake Beard (4A, 138), Bellevue’s Christian Villani (3A, 152) and North Central’s Izaec Quintanilla (3A ,160).