tacomaweekly

Page 7

-YPKH` -LIY\HY` ‹ tacomaweekly.com ‹ :LJ[PVU ( ‹ 7HNL

36*(3 >9,:;3,9: 7<5*/ TICKET TO TACOMA DOME

Veterans, youth get first shots at state

By Jeremy Helling jeremy@tacomaweekly.com

Patiole Pesefea found himself in a pivotal spot in his 285pound match in the 3A wrestling regionals. Tied 1-1 with Timberline’s Cole Stevens in the second round of the consolation bracket – with a berth in the Mat Classic on the line – the Foss senior got a last-second takedown for the victory, becoming one of seven Tacoma wrestlers to advance at the regionals on Feb. 9 at Bonney Lake High School. “I didn’t want to quit,� said Pesefea, who went on to beat Auburn-Mountainview’s Dakota Weir to claim third place. “I’ve worked these past couple months really hard to get here. I wasn’t going to (go through all that) if I’m not going to state, because I want to be there and I deserve to be there after all the hard work I put in at practice.� That was a common theme for several local wrestlers, as others punched their inaugural ticket to Tacoma Dome for this weekend’s Mat Classic after falling short in recent years. After winning his first matchup over Decatur’s Justin Robinson, Mount Tahoma’s Joey Gillies found himself dropping to the consolation bracket after a loss to Timberline’s defending state champ Stone Hart in the 220-pound semifinals. But the Thunderbirds’ senior pinned

PHOTOS BY ROCKY ROSS

46=05. 65 (Top left) Lincoln’s Juan Vicente (right) battles Foss’ Joseph Wurtz during his

win in the 126-pound consolation semifinals. (Top right) Lincoln’s Keidrick O’Bannon (left) and Wilson’s Chris Neiman lock up in the 170-pound consolation semifinals, as O’Bannon emerged with the win to advance to state. (Bottom) Foss senior Patiole Pesefea (left) battles Decatur’s Kyle Gleed in the 285-pound semifinals.

Lincoln’s B.J. Hawthorne 32 seconds into the third round to earn his trip to state, and later topped Wilson’s Tanner Colburn – who beat Gillies the prior week at the league tournament – to earn third place. “It feels great, man,� said Gillies, who lost to senior teammate Jon Devine at the 4A regionals last year to fall just short of a state berth. “That definitely helped me out for this year.

(Devine) was like a lot of these wrestlers out here. Big, strong and heavy‌that’s what I’ve got to watch out for now.� Colburn – a freshman who has shown serious potential in the last few weeks for the Rams – had outlasted Robinson 4-3 in the consolation semifinals to earn his first trip to state. Lincoln senior Juan Vicente – who earned his first state trip after being an alternate last year

Tacoma Sports Online Your ticket to online coverage [HJVTH^LLRS` JVT ZWVY[Z

VISIT <: 65 FACEBOOK

Famous Burgers and Fries ‡ :H JULQG RXU RZQ ORZ IDW EHHI HYHU\ PRUQLQJ ‡ 2XU EXQV DUH EDNHG IUHVK QLJKWO\ XVLQJ RXU RZQ UHFLSH ‡ )UHVK FXW IUHQFK IULHV DQG FRQGLPHQWV ‡ )5(( &RNH ZLWK PHDO -XVW PHQWLRQ WKLV DG ‡ )5(( ,FH &UHDP FRQH IRU 7RWV ‡ 6HQLRU GLVFRXQWV

253.267.7002

6RXWK WK 6WUHHW ‡ 7DFRPD :$

MHJLIVVR JVT [HJVTH^LLRS`

Providing high-tech family dentistry with old-fashioned care

MICROSCOPE ENHANCED DENTISTRY

D. D. S .

High Speed Internet Service Powered by Click! Network will Brighten your Day!

s -" 0ERSONAL 7EB 3PACE s .EWSGROUP !CCESS As Low As $24.95 s !LWAYS #ONNECTED a Month s .O 0HONE ,INE 2EQUIRED

DENTISTRY

PLANCICH

Gotcha Down?

INCLUDES SPAM lLTERING WEBMAIL

Family G R E G O RY J .

High Priced Internet

s 5P TO -BPS K #ONNECTION s %MAIL !DDRESSES

– headlined a trio of Abes that advanced to Tacoma Dome, outlasting Foss’ Joseph Wurtz 12-8 in the semifinals of the 126pound consolation bracket on his way to taking fourth place. “It was a tough match,� said Vicente, who fought through an ankle injury in his first match of the day and a bloody nose in the bout against Wurtz. “It’s going to be tough (at the state meet), but I’m going to go hard.�

Lincoln junior teammate Keidrick O’Bannon topped Wilson’s Chris Neiman 7-3 in the consolation semifinals at 170 pounds to punch his state ticket, getting a key takedown midway through the third round to pull away. “I feel like I made a lot of people happy, including myself,� said O’Bannon, who had won 10-2 over Decatur’s Christian Napper-Mercer before falling 3-1 to Enumclaw’s Falani Gill to drop to the consolation bracket. “It wasn’t easy though. It took a lot of hard work.� Abes freshman Avery Meyer also earned a spot at the Mat Classic, ripping off a pair of 4-2 wins in the 120-pound consolation bracket over Enumclaw senior Garrett Jarosz and North Thurston senior Justin Savard to take third place. Wilson senior Jake Ferris – the defending state 195-pound runner-up – delivered the lone title for Tacoma wrestlers on the day by pinning Auburn-Mountainview’s Kalvin Saxby in his first match, winning 14-4 over Timberline’s Tanner Risk in the semifinals and topping Decatur’s Rowland Gaydosh 5-3 in a tightknit final. The Mat Classic at Tacoma Dome begins on Feb. 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. It continues on Feb. 16 from 10 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., with the finals to take place at 5:15 p.m.

Rent Modem

Zyxel P-971M Cable Modem ONLY $6.00 a MONTH! s FREE $ATA *ACK )NSTALLATION s FREE .ET 6ENTURE /NSITE 3ETUP

3640 S. Cedar St., Ste. E, Tacoma New Customers only. Not valid with any other offer. Valid only at residential locations. Valid with Residential 1 plan only. Service requires approved cable modem. Regular price $32.95/mo. Call for complete details!

Located in the Heart of Tacoma’s Old Town 2312 North 30th Street, Suite 201 Tacoma, Washington 98403 Tel. 253.272.7400 s &AX

Come follow us on Facebook

Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.