Tollen state title highlights local Class 1A, 2A wrestlers at Mat Classic
TACOMA — In a tournament where they stood tall, Clark County’s top Class 4A wrestlers finished one step short.
Six local wrestlers reached the 4A finals Saturday at the Mat Classic. But six settled for second place at the Tacoma Dome.
Some were accepting of the season’s final verdict. Union senior Alex Berfanger was after losing the 182-pound final 3-1 to Kent-Meridian’s Emmanuel Diagbe, who finished the year undefeated.
“I wrestled my hardest, so there are no regrets,” Berfanger said. “A couple things could have gone better, but this is the best I could have done.”
Some felt they should have done better. Evergreen’s Dallas Goodpaster was disappointed with his showing in the 220-pound final, a 4-2 loss to Alex Fairhurst of Snohomish.
“He came to wrestle more than I did,” Goodpaster said. “I just wasn’t on. That was not my style. I wrestled down to his style.”
And some are already jazzed for next year. Union sophomore Ethan Rotondo can’t wait to get back on the mat despite losing the 106-pound title match to Kentridge’s Derek Freitag, 6-2.
“Like my coach just said, ‘more motivation for next year,’ ” Rotondo said. “I’m looking forward to taking first.”
Union’s Michael Snediker came up short, losing the 160-pound final 7-4 to Hudson Mauseth of Moses Lake.
Snediker was one of five Union wrestlers to place in the top five as Tommy Strassenberg (145) and Javier Martinez (170) each placed fifth. That led the Titans to a third-place team trophy, the highest among local 4A schools.
Mountain View’s Brandon Huft was a victor and a victim by a quick pin Saturday. He advanced to the 113-pound final by pinning Patrick Wheeler of Curtis in 47 seconds. But he lost in the title match by being pinned after 1:07 by Moses Lake’s Trey Long.
Evergreen’s Austin Wright made the 285-pound final by squeaking past a much bigger opponent, 2-1. But he was pinned 2:39 into the title match.
Berfanger, the 182-pound Union finalist, had one of the tournament’s tightest state title matches. In Diagbe, he faced the wrestler he beat for the 170-pound state title last year.
But Diagbe has taken his game to a new level. It showed last week at the regional tournament, when he slammed Berfanger hard and pinned him.
“Overall he’s just more on an athlete than I am,” Berfanger said. “He’s longer, faster and a little bit stronger.”
Saturday, Berfanger focused on staying low. He thwarted most of Diagbe’s attacks and trailed 1-0 going into the final round.
Berfanger tied the match with a one-point escape, but Diagbe scored a two-point takedown with 58 seconds left. That ended up being the difference.
“This last week I was working on wrestling with one knee on the ground at all times,” Berfanger said. “It worked for the most part. But then he figured it out and took me down.”
Goodpaster had bulldozed through the 220-pound bracket with a 13-4 win and two quick pins. He scored a quick two-point takedown in the title match, but never took control.
Shortly after Fairhurst tied the match 2-2 in the third round, Goodpaster hurt his ankle enough that it required the match to be briefly stopped.
After the match resumed, Fairhurst scored the winning points when he twisted onto Goodpaster’s back with 32 seconds left.
“I got stuck in that position and I couldn’t twist off that ankle to come up,” said Goodpaster, who finished the season 46-3.
Mountain View had two state placers in addition to Huft. Will Taisacan placed fourth at 106 pounds and Damon Thomas placed sixth at 132 pounds, easily the toughest bracket in the tournament with a pair of two-time champions.
Camas 126-pounder Rylan Thompson placed sixth, as did Heritage 152-pounder Marcus Hendrickson.
