Sports Five alive Bulldog wrestlers advance to state By EMILY HANSON emily@masoncounty.com
Five of six North Mason wrestlers advanced last weekend to Mat Classic XXVI. Seniors Matt Zink (113 pounds), and Chase Davis (195) and junior Tyler Grewell (170) finished second in their weight classes at the 2A Regional 2 Tournament on Friday and Saturday at Hockinson High School in Brush Prairie. Seniors Grant Hunter (145) and Victor McIntosh (182) both took fourth. The top four wrestlers in each weight class advanced to the Mat Classic tomorrow and Saturday at the Tacoma Dome. “The tournament went pretty well,” head coach Bill McCarty said. “Five of six guys going to state is a good success rate.” He said a couple of the wrestlers didn’t place where he expected them to, but attributed that to mental errors during the tournament. Junior Mark Phillips (126) wrestled for North Mason, but was eliminated after two matches. Zink started his bracket with a 32-second pin against Mark Morris sophomore Hyrum Robinson. He then won by decision 7-2 against Lindbergh junior Chad Omonaka. In the finals, Zink fell to Longview sophomore Orion Yates by pin at 4:35. McCarty said Zink wrestled aggressively and with an uptempo pace during regionals. Davis won his first round match with a 22-second pin against Hockinson freshman Ryan Bishop. He then defeated Mark Morris junior Joe Leal by decision, 8-5. In the finals, Lindbergh senior Trevonn Russell beat Davis by decision, 7-5. Davis made a couple of mental errors during his final match, McCarty said. Grewell earned a technical fall in his first match, defeating Ridgefield junior Vanea McDaniel 19-4. He then beat Renton senior Samuel Nicholas by major decision 10-2 in the semifinals. In his final round, Kingston senior Josh Henden defeated Grewell by major decision, 19-7. See BULLDOGS on page B-5
Journal photo by Emily Hanson
Shelton senior Kaitlin Woods earns a near fall on Prairie sophomore Jacqueline Phillips on Saturday at the Girls’ Region 3 Tournament at Hoquiam High School. Competing at 124 pounds, Woods defeated Phillips in triple overtime by decision, 7-2. Woods finished the tournament in third place to advance to Mat Classic XXVI.
Flying high
Two Highclimbers advance to state wrestling championship By EMILY HANSON emily@masoncounty.com
Kaitlin Woods kept her first opponent scoreless through two rounds at the Girls’ Region 3 Tournament. The problem? She couldn’t muster any points herself. After a slow start, Woods, a Shelton senior, earned a reversal and then a three-point nearfall to defeat Prairie sophomore Jacqueline Phillips 7-2 in triple overtime at 124-pounds Saturday at Hoquiam High School. Woods went on to finish third at the tournament
to advance to Mat Classic XXVI tomorrow and Saturday at the Tacoma Dome. The last Shelton girl to reach the state wrestling championship was Kayla Shivers in 2010. “She was relentless,” assistant coach Chris Frazier said after Woods’ first bout. “The other girl had about five opportunities to beat her, but I knew she had it because she’s trained too hard not to try.” While Woods competed in Hoquiam, the Shelton boys’ wrestling team sent 12 Highclimbers to the 3A Region 2 Tournament at Bonney Lake High School. “Regionals was very competitive and provided some tough competition for us,” head coach Chris Lacy said. At regionals, sophomore Riley Riffe (113) was the only Highclimber to advance to the state tournament. He placed fourth. See SHELTON on page B-5
Lady Owls trounce Columbia Adventist MMK to play in district championship By EMILY HANSON emily@masoncounty.com
Jaycee Valley scored in double digits to lead the Mary M. Knight girls’ basketball team to victory in the first round of the 1B Southwest District IV tournament this week. On Monday, Valley netted 17 points in the Lady Owls’ 54-13 defeat of Columbia Ad-
ventist at Castle Rock High School. “We came out very aggressive and we were in rhythm,” head coach Lance Valley said. “Our defense shut them down and it helped having Jaycee (Valley) back from a shoulder injury.” The victory sent the Lady Owls to the district championship game at 4 p.m. Saturday against Taholah at Montesano High School.
Valley also grabbed eight rebounds and four steals. She handed out four assists. Coach Valley said the Lady Owls rebounded well and took care of the ball the whole game. “As a team, we played really well,” he said. Lauren Dierkop scored 11 points and collected 12 rebounds and four steals, while Ashley Kiliz had nine points and a season-high seven rebounds. Carlie Adsero added six points with Melodie Snyder contributing four points.
Finally, Miranda Sowle grabbed nine rebounds and four steals. She also had seven assists and five blocks. The winner of Saturday’s district championship will be the No. 1 seed into the regional basketball tournament next week while the loser will be the No. 2 seed. About a week before winning its district game, the team lost its final regular season game 62-43 on Feb. 11 at Muckleshoot. See OWLS on page B-5
Mason County Journal - Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014 - Page B-1