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College basketball has its bracket busters, but high school wrestling has a bracket that is busting the state expectations of some of the best competitors in Washington.
Officially, it is the Region IV 3A tournament, but Saturday's mat-tastic gathering in Sunnyside has been dubbed "mini-state," a "handicapper" and a "title killer."
And, according to one coach who knows something about state titles, it is the reason Enumclaw will be virtually unchallenged for the 3A state team title.
"It's a disaster for us," Sedro-Woolley coach Jay Breckenridge said about District 1 joining the CBBN and Greater Spokane League 3As to make the most competitive regional in the state in all classes. "I just about fell down when I found out we were going over there."
At stake in all four of the 3A regionals are four berths in each weight class to Mat Classic next week in Tacoma. What separates Sunnyside from the other three regionals is that three of the top-five teams in the state (ranked by washingtonwrestlingreport.com) and half of the top 10 will be whittling each other down to a hard core of elite wrestlers.
"You're going to have guys staying home next weekend that would have been in the top eight in the state," said Hanford coach Dom Duncan. "It's unfortunate that the WIAA has chosen to take the two toughest, deepest districts and put them in the same region."
Throughout the season, East Valley (ranked second), Sedro-Woolley (fourth), Sunnyside (fifth), Ferndale (eighth) and North Central (ninth) have lived up to their billing as teams that would contend for state trophies.
But those hopes took a major blow when the schools found out they would be wrestling a week before state in a tournament that includes half of the top-ranked individuals in the state and could produce nine state champions.
"When you're trying to win a state title, it comes down to how many kids are in the state tournament," said Breckenridge, who guided Sedro-Woolley to six straight 3A titles from 2002-07. "That (regional) is going to kill us off."
Fifty-one of the 112 wrestlers -- half of whom will not qualify for state -- are ranked in the top 10. No other regional even comes close.
Enumclaw isn't unchallenged in the Region II tournament, with No. 6 Auburn Mountainview, No. 7 Bonney Lake and No. 10 White River also contending for state spots. Third-ranked Yelm is the only top-10 team in Region III, while the top team in the wafer-thin Region I (King-Co and Metro leagues) is No. 19 Mount Si.
"The saddest part about the whole thing is you have seniors who haven't placed yet, and they're ranked this year and this should be the highlight of their lives, and they're not even going to have a chance," Breckenridge said.
In the past, the GSL and CBBN 3A (previously Mid-Valley) wrestlers had a better draw for the regional matchup with a westside district. The last two years, it's been the Metro League, which pretty well guaranteed the top three CBBN/GSL wrestlers would advance to state, and it wasn't unheard of for the East to sweep all four state berths.
This year, though, it's Sedro, Ferndale and the rest of District 1 who make the trip.
"It's good because once you get out of (regionals), you're looking at a pretty good chance to place next weekend," said Duncan, who would have had legitimate hopes of advancing all six of his wrestlers to state in any other year, but now may be fortunate to get four in. "The downside of that is we'll be leaving some guys home we feel could have placed. Every team is going to.
"If the state wants the best 16 kids in the state tournament, they probably should not match up the top two districts."
What's a pain for coaches will be a treat for fans, though, with potentially five previews of state championship matches.
The most entertaining weight class (152 pounds) also includes one of the state's most heavily recruited wrestlers -- junior two-time state champion Derek Garcia of Sedro-Woolley.
Also in the mix are second-ranked Jake Rodriguez of East Valley, No. 4 Carey Irwin of Everett, No. 5 Zack Wilkes of Mount Spokane, No. 6 Damien Long of Mount Spokane, No. 8 Conner Brame of Ferndale and No. 9 Joe Barrington-Richard of Mount Vernon. Imagine how hard some of those kids will be wrestling in a winner-to-state, loser-out match.
The 112 bracket also should be entertaining with the top four ranked wrestlers (all from the eastside). Sunnyside state champion Steven Romero won the bracket last week, beating the second-, third- and fourth-ranked wrestlers along the way. His 6-4 victory over North Central's Nathan Brown very well could have been the first of three straight weeks the two wrestle on a Saturday night.
The other top-ranked wrestlers in the region are Sunnyside's Christian Reyes (103), Sedro's Shane Hunt (135) and Cody Pohren (171) and East Valley's Nic Price (160) and Dakota Lawson (189).
While the coach in him dreads the regional, Breckenridge said his competitive side can't wait to see what happens.
"We're trying to teach the kids, no matter what happens, you do what you're supposed to do," he said. "I'd say that the kids who can make the top three -- even the top four -- in this tournament will go on to place (at state). I'd bet a lot of what I've done the past 24 years on it."
4A regionals
The annual CBBN/GSL matchup Saturday at Central Valley in Spokane does not have the firepower that Eastern Washington wrestling is known for -- only 37 wrestlers ranked in the top 10 and just 11 returning state placers.
However, seventh-ranked University and No. 8 Moses Lake should stage a terrific battle for the team title.
The top four in each weight advance to Mat Classic.
Moses Lake's Sam Villegas is the lone returning state champion in the field. He won the 1A title with Royal last season after finishing runner-up two previous years and would love to add a big-school championship to his resume.
Villegas is the second-ranked wrestler in the state at 152 and may not be challenged until state.
One of the best cross-district matchups could come at 145, where Moses Lake's Thomas Pfeiffer (third at state at this weight last year) likely will face University's Ryan Zumwalt (fifth at 140 last year) in the final.
2A regionals
The CWAC runs smack into the Great Northern League, with the 12-man weight classes pared down to five state competitors today and Saturday in Ellensburg.
The list of teams on the leaderboard will include No. 5 Ellensburg, No. 7 Riverside, No. 8 Toppenish and No. 10 Othello. But they'll all be chasing top-ranked and defending champion Deer Park.
The Stags return seven state placers and two champions, top-ranked Cody Miller at 152 and Drew Acorn, who faces a field that includes four of the top five 119-pounders in the 2As.
Grandview's Santos Guillen shouldn't have much trouble in the 103 bracket, and Othello's Reuben Lopez, a state runner-up at 130, should carry the 135 class. But teammate Amando DeLeon, ranked sixth at 145, will have his hands full with Deer Park's Brandon Leliefeld, a three-time state placer ranked second in the state.
1A SCAC regionals
East meets West in Connell with five berths to state on the line.
The bracket includes No. 3 Warden, No. 6 Zillah, No. 10 Granger and No. 11 Connell. The tournament had produced the 1A state champion for 10 straight years before Lakeside blew away the field last season.
Zillah's Skylor Davis (119) and Chris Castillo (152) are returning state champions.
Also, the Eastern Washington super-regional for girls will take place at Connell, with the top two from each class advancing.
