TACOMA – Tanner Craig and Tanner Lees were never out of it.
Danny Snediker and Jackson McKinney never let their opponents in it.
Four Clark County wrestlers competed in state championship matches at Mat Classic on Saturday evening at the Tacoma Dome.
All four won.
Craig and Lees rallied for dramatic wins in the final period.
Snediker and McKinney dominated from the start.
Both outcomes were equally satisfying to the victors.
“I’ve been wanting to be a state champion ever since I knew what it meant to be a state champion,” said Craig, a Camas junior. “It feels amazing.”
“It feels beyond amazing,” said Snediker, a Union junior. “I can’t fathom how I got here.”
Lees traveled the most dramatic road to the championship. Trailing 3-0 in his 145-pound title match, the Washougal senior turned over his opponent, Weston Lyver of White River, and pinned him with 28 seconds to go.
“As soon as I saw him turn over, I knew I had it,” Lees said. “It’s one of my main moves that I go to when I’m down like that.”
Lees needed a late pin to even reach the title match. Trailing 4-0 to top-ranked Jake Freeman of Clarkston, Lees won Saturday morning’s semifinal match with a pin in the final seconds.
Lees follows in the footsteps of his older sister Abby Lees, a two-time state champion.
“I’ve got younger siblings I’ve got to teach,” he said. “I’ve got to be a role model and show them what being a Lees is all about.”
Craig also rallied in his 132-pound championship match. Trailing CJ Richmond of Sumner 1-0, he scored a two-point reversal with 38 seconds left for the winning points in his 2-1 victory.
It wasn’t an easy road to Mat Classic for Craig. He lost in the district and regional tournaments to teammate Rylan Thompson, who placed fourth.
“My losses in the district and regional tournament, they were tough,” Craig said. “Rylan is a great wrestler. He could have been the one out there just as easily. He’s pushed me in the room every single day.”
But that adversity boosted Craig, who stalked the mat and occasionally shouted before his matches Friday and Saturday.
“I have my little yell that I do before matches now,” he said. “It works. It makes me think ‘this guy is mine. He’s not ready. I’m an animal.’”
McKinney, a Skyview senior, saved his loud yell until after his victory in the 195-pound title match. No rally was needed. He dominated Izaiah Davis of South Kitsap throughout his 6-2 victory.
McKinney had two first-round pins and was in control in all four of his Mat Classic matches.
“My main goal wasn’t just to win state, it was to take state,” he said. “And that’s what I did.”
The Oregon State-bound McKinney said he felt fully healthy for the first time since coming down with mono in early January. He suffered defeats in the district and regional tournament to Camas’ Sam Malychewski, who placed third.
“It humbled me,” McKinney said. “I felt like I had paid my dues to earn this win this season.”
Snediker led throughout his 152-pound title match, beating Cameron Crawford of Mead 8-4. The match never seemed out of Snediker’s control.
“I was watching (Crawford) throughout the tournament,” Snediker said. “Every match he got a big lead and held it. I just knew I had to take him down, let him up and take him down again. I couldn’t give him that space.”
Snediker becomes the fifth individual state champion since Union opened in 2007. For Snediker, the title is all about tradition.
“We all come together as a team and grind in the room,” he said. “That’s 100 percent what got me here. I’m part of a tradition that we’re going to uphold.”
WRESTLING
MAT CLASSIC STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
At the Tacoma Dome
Local wrestlers
CLASS 4A
CAMAS
126 – Jack Latimer p. Jason Walker (Puyallup) 4:30; def. Kobe Santoyo (Chiawana) 3-1; def. Lane Holland (Graham Kapowsin) , THIRD PLACE.
132 – Rylan Thompson lost to CJ Richmond (Sumner) 7-2; def. Austin Cleland (Sumner) 1-0; lost to Isaiah Gonzalez (Pasco) 5-3, OT, FOURTH PLACE.
132 – Tanner Craig def. Isaiah Gonzalez (Pasco) 9-4, OT; def. CJ Richmond (Sumner) 2-1, STATE CHAMPION.
160 – Gideon Malychewski lost to Hunter Cruz (Moses Lake) 8-4; def. Angelo Loera (Lake Stevens) 5-0; lost by pin to Davonn Keyes (South Kitsap) 0:30, FOURTH PLACE.
195 – Samuel Malychewski lost to Izaiah Davis (South Kitsap) 11-9; def. Payton Castro (Moses Lake) 9-5, OT; p. Bailey Sanchez (Moses Lake) 0:42, THIRD PLACE.
SKYVIEW
195 – Jackson McKinney p. Dominick Almaguer (Pasco) 1:52; def. Izaiah Davis (South Kitsap) 6-2, STATE CHAMPION.
UNION
138 – Noah Talavera lost to John Sowers (Davis) 9-2; lost to Reid Carlton (Tahoma) 6-3; lost to Duncan Harrison (Mount Si) 6-4, SIXTH PLACE.
152 – Danny Snediker def. Gunner Starren (Tahoma) 12-1; def. Cameron Crawford (Mead) 8-4, STATE CHAMPION.
CLASS 3A
EVERGREEN
170 – Dylan Goodpaster lost by pin to Jacob Olson (Kamiakin) 2:41; p. Cayden White (Marysville-Pilchuck) 1:33; p. Isaac Casey (Peninsula) 1:24, THIRD PLACE.
MOUNTAIN VIEW
106 – Noah Messman lost by pin to Yusief Lillie (Bonney Lake) 3:00; lost by pin to Alan Luff (Kelso) 5:35; p. Jacob Carr (Mount Spokane) 4:28. FIFTH PLACE.
182 – Alton Culver def. Skyler Kloth (O’Dea) 14-2; lost to A.J. Hoggatt (Kelso) 5-2; def. Noah Winder (North Thurston) 9-2, FIFTH PLACE.
285 – Alex Ferruzca lost by pin to Ethan Calapp (Bethel) 3:33; p. Josh Guzik (Rogers-Spokane) 2:45; SEVENTH PLACE.
PRAIRIE
182 – Nick Langer lost by pin to Noah Winder (North Thurston) 0:53; def. Skyler Kloth (O’Dea) 14-0; SEVENTH PLACE.
CLASS 2A
COLUMBIA RIVER
152 – Logan Knudson lost by pin to Nate Moore (White River) 2:58; def. Zach Streun (North Kitsap) 3-2; lost to Phoenix Farrar (Orting) 8-2; FOURTH PLACE.
HOCKINSON
145 – Dale Anderson lost by pin to Weston Lyver (White River) 0:58; def. Jayden Lancaster (Rochester) 7-0; lost to Alex Vaca (Wapato) 4-0. FOURTH PLACE.
RIDGEFIELD
220 – Dawson Lieurance lost to Flores Pimentel (Selah) 8-7; lost to Logan Reser (West Valley-Spokane) 7-5; lost to Michael Haynes (Sedro Wooley) 13-9, SIXTH PLACE.
WASHOUGAL
145 – Tanner Lees p. Jake Freeman (Clarkston) 5:55; p. Weston Lyver (White River) 4:32, STATE CHAMPION.
WOODLAND
106 – Judeah Sanders p. Quincy Young (Olympic) 4:09; lost by pin to Andy Pimentel (Selah) 1:57; lost to Sammy Flores (Ephrata) 16-4; SIXTH PLACE.
113 – Josiah Sanders lost by pin to Conor Goucher (Orting) 3:05; lost by pin to Nate Belcourt (White River) 3:48; p. Stephen Aguilar (Wapato) 0:58, FIFTH PLACE.
195 – Jacob Flanagan lost to Salvador Osorio (Toppenish) 12-2; def. Eli Warner (Highline) 10-8, SEVENTH PLACE.
CLASS 1A
KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN
195 – Michael Garrison def. Eden Cisneros (Forks) 1-0; p. Scout Walker (Colville) 2:14; def. Dalton Swayze (Okanogan) 3-1, THIRD PLACE.
