Southridge’s Dirty Dozen looks to clean up at state

When asked if any of his wrestlers had an interesting story to tell, Southridge coach Steve Isley had to think.

There was Atsamaz Pliev, who three years ago didn’t know but a few words of English, and now he’s an honor student. Senior Ozeas Cervantes had never wrestled a varsity match until the postseason, and now he’s off to state. The list goes on.

“They are all different and they all have a different story,” Isley said. “They all got here in different ways. Two of our seniors, Breyden Baratone, who had never been past the district tournament, beat (Kamiakin’s) Rece Quintana to make it to state. And Ozeas, who has never been varsity for us in four years, made it to state. That is a kid who has persevered. You have kids, who by the time they are juniors and aren’t the No. 1 guy in their weight class, decide wrestling’s not for them. Ozeas stuck with it.”

The Suns will send a school record 12 wrestlers to Mat Classic this weekend at the Tacoma Dome, and they have dubbed themselves the Dirty Dozen.

Pliev, whose family came from Ossetia, a small republic in Georgia along the Russian border, three years ago, is making his second trip to state. He was second at regionals to Kamiakin’s Luke Eskelsen at 220 pound last week, and will open against Jack Markowitz of O’Dea at state.

“They had wrestling in Ossetia, but I wasn’t into it,” said Pliev, who also plays football. “When I got to high school, I liked wrestling better than football. My freshman year, I had two English classes to help me get into better classes.”

Isley said Pliev has grown in more ways than one since he stepped into the wrestling room.

“He is an amazing kid,” Isley said. “When we first met him and he came into practice the first day, he spoke a handful of words in English. He was pretty soft and not a real physical kid. At practice you couldn’t tell if he was taking it seriously. There was such a language barrier that sometimes he didn’t know what we wanted him to do. Then he made that transformation from his freshman to sophomore year going to state. This year he looks like a guy who could place for us. His English has gone from almost none to the point where he has a 4.0 and is taking classes like physics and chemistry.”

While Cervantes has stuck with the sport for four years, fellow 195-pounder Eric Stayrook is a district and regional champion this season with just two years on the mat under his belt. He beat Cervantez in the district and regional title matches.

“Isley kept talking to me each year from freshman to my junior year,” Stayrook said. “He said I should try it. It’s a hard sport. I wish I would have started it sooner. It’s more the technique for me because I am an athlete.”

Stayrook, who did not make it to state last year, said he was surprised how this season worked out.

“I can’t believe I won district and regionals,” he said. “Last year was real competitive, but a lot of those guys were seniors and they are gone. I am going to miss this. It’s sad it’s coming to an end.”

Still trending in the upper weights, heavyweight Yuriy Slutskiy has the ability to wrestle 220, and did so at the Hanford Winter Cup, but he’s more comfortable at 285 despite weighing just 227 at regionals.

“The past six weeks or so, he has changed his style,” Isley said. “He has adopted more of a lighter, quicker style, taking more leg shots and being more offensive than most heavyweights, and that’s how he has been winning matches. He looked really good in the regional final against a kid from Marysville (Joe Lawrence), who was every bit 280, and Yuriy was too physical, too athletic and too quick for him. He will find himself giving up 50 or 60 pounds this weekend. The No. 1 kid from Juanita (John Nascimento) is right around 285.”

Slutskiy, who will open up against Timothy Rivera of West Seattle on Friday, is in the opposite side of the bracket from Lawrence, Nascimento and Mid-Columbia Conference foe Brock McCue of Kamiakin.

One big plus for the Suns this season has been junior Mikael Failor who, after placing fourth at state as a freshman, missed weight at district last year at 138.

Now at 160, Failor has matched up against some of the best in the MCC in Kamiakin’s Sione Halo and Kennewick’s Emilio Ramos, whom he beat for the regional title.

“Not in three years did he win a district title, but now he has a regional title and is in pretty good shape for the state tournament,” Isley said of Failor. “He beat Riley Van Scoy from Stanwood, who was 34-0 on the season with 32 pins in the regional semifinals. That was one match a lot of people thought would be a big match with a lot of fireworks, and it was. It was a big win over a kid who was third at state (at 138) last year.”

Ramos, Van Scoy and fourth-ranked Josh Johnson of North Central are in the opposite side of the bracket from the top-ranked Failor, who will open state against Jayden Sloniker of Roosevelt.

Mark Meier, who placed fourth at state last year at 160, is at 170 this season, where he was third at regionals.

“Two trips to state in five years of wrestling isn’t too bad,” Meier said. “I started wrestling as a way to stay in shape for baseball.”

The Meiers will make state a family affair this weekend, with freshman Steven qualifying at 106.

“He did what I couldn’t do, and that’s make it to state as a freshman,” Mark Meier said. “My first two years, I was two-and-out at district. I am so proud of him.”

Steven Meier spent most of the year at 113, and had a dismal 14-20 record. At a couple of league duals when the Kennewick and Kamiakin 106-pounders bumped up to 113 and Meier beat them, Isley suggested he drop to 106. With his weight, it was a matter of four pounds.

“He had wins over two of the best kids in the MCC. He was second at the Lewiston Tournament and he won district,” Isley said. “He got beat by the Kennewick kid (Ler Pweh Htoo) in the third-place match at regionals, but he’s going to state.”

Newcomer Jevon Johnson has taken the state by storm, winning regionals at 182. The junior from California is ranked No. 3 in his weight class.

“I feel I can do some big things at state this weekend,” Johnson said. “It was fun being the underdog (at regionals). Nobody knowing who I was or expecting me to win. Just coming in and showing them what I could do.”

Senior Ryan Nett has used his success on the mat to gain bragging rights at family gatherings.

Nett placed eighth last year at 138, and was third at regionals last weekend at 145 to earn another trip to state.

“I have two older brothers (Andrew and Trenton), who were crazy good, and they couldn’t make it to state,” Nett said with a smile.

Nett said he dropped 20 pounds to get to 145 year. He and Steven Saltz, who was second at regionals at 152, were around the same weight at the start of the season, but he said it was easier for him to drop the weight.

Rounding out the group is senior Gio Penaloza, who was third at regionals at 126 pounds. Penaloza, who is fifth in the state rankings, will wrestle sixth-ranked Owen Burger of Bethel in his first match Friday.

This weekend will be the last for quite a few Suns, but Nett said it is something to be savored.

“Wrestling in the Dome is crazy,” he said. “It is the biggest level we get to at our age. We are going to enjoy every minute.”

This story was originally published February 15, 2018 at 6:33 PM with the headline "Southridge’s Dirty Dozen looks to clean up at state."