Kamiakin crowns 2 champs at Mat Classic
The Kamiakin Braves crowned two champions Saturday as Riley Gurr and Nick Little won gold at Mat Classic in Tacoma.
Gurr won the 3A 113-pound title, pinning Ryan McGhee of Kelso in 35 seconds. The Kamiakin sophomore finished the season 45-0.
“It felt really good,” Gurr said via telephone. “I came here to get one thing done, and that was to win. I am happy I had people who supported me and had faith in me.”
Nick Little, ranked No. 1 in the state, took home the 285-pound title after beating Antonio Corea of Auburn Mountainview 6-3.
“I am very happy,” Little said. “It’s my senior year, and I wanted to go out with a bang. I finished fourth last year, and I wanted to do better this year. This is a pretty amazing feeling.”
In the 4A ranks, Richland heavyweight Nic Workman upset top-ranked Dallas Goodpaster of Evergreen 4-2 for his first state title. Workman finished his season 41-1.
“He was behind pretty much the whole match,” Richland coach Scott Surplus said. “He was down 2-1 and got a stalling point to make it 2-2 with 19 seconds left in the third. With 6 seconds left, he took him down to win it.”
The Braves finished tied for fifth with Enumclaw with 93 points, getting valuable points from freshman Austin Almaguer, who was third at 106 pounds. Arlington won the team title with 148 points.
“It was a great weekend,” Kamiakin coach Jordan Anderson said. “This is a team I will always remember. It has been a fun year.”
Gurr dominated all weekend, giving up just one point in four matches — for an illegal hold in the semifinals.
“Riley is on a whole other level,” Anderson said. “To wrestle 45 matches and not get taken down all season, that’s something.”
Little (27-6) trailed in the title match early on before forging a 3-all tie going into the third round.
He opted for the down position, maneuvered an escape, then took Corea down with 7 seconds left to secure the win.
“It was awesome,” Anderson said. “He tackled me afterward. I was soaked in sweat. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I was so happy for him.”
“After all he has done for me, he needed a hug,” Little said.
After all was said and done, Gurr hopped up on Little’s shoulders one last time for the team photo — a tradition they have had for tournaments.
“Together, we would be unstoppable,” Gurr said as he was about to devour a well-deserved meal at Red Robin.
In the 4A 120-pound title match, Sunnyside’s Jacob Mendoza defeated Nick Hara of Moses Lake 7-5 (OT).
The Grizzlies finished fifth in the 4A team standings with 67.5 points. Lake Stevens won the team title with 121 points, with Moses Lake second with 103.
Pasco’s Jake Covington was second at 138 pounds in the 4A division, falling 7-2 to Leviticus Arizpe of Decatur.
Chiawana’s Levi McBride was second at 220 (4A), falling 7-5 to Andrzej Hughes-Murray of Federal Way.
Bryce Buckley earned a third-place finish for the Riverhawks at 152 pounds.
For Southridge, freshman Mikael Failor was fourth after dropping the third-place match to Jake Howerton of Mt. Spokane 7-2.
Suns 170-pounder Zayaid Al-Ghani finished fifth, earning a 4-3 decision over Jonivan Manibusan of Lakes in his final match.
CLASS 4A
Semifinals
106: Ethan Rotondo (Union) d. Jose Campos (Sun), 6-0. 113: Elias Romero (Sun) d. Will Taisacan (Mtvw), 6-1. 120: Jacob Mendoza (Sun) tf. Gino Loera (Lkst), 15-0. 138: Jake Covington (Pasco) d. Layn Pannkuk (Olym), 2-1. 152: Adrian Avena (Tbea) p. Bryce Buckley (Chiawana), 4:54. 220: Levi McBride (Chiawana) d. Dylan Ingrahm (Cama), 1-0. 285: Nick Workman (Richland) d. Noah Howell (RPuy), 3-2.
Championship matches and local placers
Team scores: Lake Stevens 121, Moses Lake 103, Tahoma 89, Curtis 74, Sunnyside 67.5. 10, Chiawana 56; 28, Pasco 23; 25, Richland 28. 106: Ethan Rotondo (Union) d. Chase Tebbets (Mead), 9-5. 5-6: Jose Campos (Sun) d. Vitaliy Manolov (Union), 3-2. 113: Derek Freitag (Krid) p. Elias Romero (Sun), 4:44. 120: Jacob Mendoza (Sun) d. Nick Hara (Mslk), 7-5 (OT). 126: Bryson Beard (Cval) d. Nick Whitehead (Taho), 10-6. 7-8: Josiah Rodriguez (Sun) d. Connor Snow (Snoh), 8-7. 132: Josh Franich (Puyl) md. Bridger Beard (Cval), 9-0. 138: Leviticus Arizpe (Deca) d. Jake Covington (Pasco), 7-2. 145: Trysten Perales (Lkst) d. James Rogers (Bgrd), 5-2. 7-8: Diego Castaneda (Sun) d. JJ Talavera (Union), 8-3. 152: Adrian Avena (Tbea) d. Dante Springsteen (Beth), 7-5. 3-4: Bryce Buckley (Chiawana) d. Tommy Strassenberg (Union), 5-4. 160: Phillip Springsteen (Beth) p. Ty Wilson (Rgpu), 3:47. 170: Michael Soler (Lkst) md. Hudsen Mauseth (Mslk), 14-6. 182: Dylan Morris (Mslk) d. Levi Meinzinger (Univ), 6-5. 195: Emmanuel Daigbe (Kmer) d. Christian Reyes (Davis), 5-1. 5-6: Trenton Harris (Kwod) p. Kameron Silvers (Chiawana), 2:57. 220: Andrzej Hughes (Fdwy) d. Levi McBride (Chiawana), 7-5. 285: Nic Workman (Richland) d. Dallas Goodpaster (Egvn), 4-2.
CLASS 3A
Semifinals
106: Brandon Kaylor (Blak) p. Austin Almaguer (Kamiakin), 5:03. 113: Riley Gurr (Kamiakin) d. Ryan McGhee (Kelso), 7-1. 120: Kyle Opland (Enum) md. Mikael Failor (Southridge), 12-4. 170: Calvin Fischer (Ckit) p. Zayid Al-Ghani (Southridge), 1:43. 285: Nick Little (Kamiakin) d. Julius McDade (O’Dea), 13-7.
Championship matches and local placers
Team scores: Arlington 148, Mt. Spokane 126, Bonney Lake 117, Edmonds-Woodway 106, Kamiakin 93. 18, Southridge 36; 31, Kennewick 13. 106: Brandon Kaylor (Blak) d. Blake Haney (Mtsp), 6-3. 3-4: Austin Almaguer (Kamiakin) p. Martin Chavez (Nthl), 3:59. 113: Riley Gurr (Kamiakin) p. Clayton Gilliam (Ncnt), :35. 120: Kyle Opland (Enum) d. Sidat Kanyi (Edwd), 9-4. 3-4: Jake Howerton (Mtsp) d. Mikael Failor (Southridge), 7-2. 126: Clai Quintanilla (Ncnt) md. Alec Hoover (Mtsp), 13-2. 132: Jake Treece (Enum) md. Gavin Rork (Arlg), 9-0. 138: Mason Phillips (Stwd) d. Jeremy Nygard (Arlg), 6-1. 5-6: Joey Santos (Aumv) d. Emilio Ramos (Kennewick), 3-1. 145: Avery Meyer (Blak) p. Dylan Foley (Aumv), 4:14. 152: Bryan Wais (Ncnt) d. Bryden Uyehara (Shad), 3-1. 160: Mason McDaniel (Edwd) d. Azariah Crew (Arlg), 7-3. 5-6: Jacob Lawson (Kamiakin) md. Braiden Klimp (Fern), 13-4. 170: Ruben Crew (Arlg) d. Calvin Fisher (Ckit), 9-5. 5-6: Zayid Al-Ghani (Southridge) d. Jonivan Manibusan (Laks), 4-3. 7-8: Zach Borisch (Kamiakin) d. Abdoulie Jatta (Edwd), 9-4. 182: Daron Camacho (Chse) d. Colton Paller (Shel), 4-2. 195: Chance Stolz (Pens) p. Bowen McConville (Kndy), 3:30. 220: Kyle Guthrie (Aubn) p. Will Willsey (Linc), 1:26. 285: Nick Little (Kamiakin) d. Antonio Corea (Aumv), 6-3.
Annie Fowler: 509-582-1574, @TCHIceQueen
This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 11:07 PM with the headline "Kamiakin crowns 2 champs at Mat Classic."