Mat Classic XXXVI, Day 2: Capital's McEwen, Lincoln's Lee capture state titles in Tacoma
McEwen pinned Kent Meridian's Farzad Karimi in the closing moments of the second period and officially claimed Friday night's 3A 106 championship match via fall (3:53) in front of a healthy crowd at the Tacoma Dome. It was a longer bout by his standards — each of McEwen's other four wins this weekend took only 90 seconds or less.
'It feels pretty great,' McEwen said. 'I wrestled (Farzad) at Gut Check before. He was a little better this time, but I was still able to get the pin.'
McEwen knows how important state championships are — but in comparison to his lofty resume, a Mat Classic title is just another box to check. Last October, the rising star won the 2024 Brian Keck Memorial Preseason Nationals tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, and cruised to victories at Rockwell Rumble (Utah), Tri-State, Gut Check, Pac Coast, and the Edmonds Invite.
He spent the overwhelming majority of Friday's 3A 106 championship in the driver's seat, plotting his next move atop Karimi before the season-ending pin.
'(I had to) open him up to get my shots, and I had to work my tilts on top,' McEwen said.
The freshman's eyes are already focused on state title number two.
'I want to win four,' McEwen said. 'And then go to a good college.'
Moments later on the same mat, Silas freshman Adrian Windsor claimed the Boys 3A 113 title — a 79-second thriller that ended via fall over Kennewick's undefeated senior Abraham Noriega. Undefeated no more.
'That's just one down,' Windsor said. 'I'm looking to get three more. … Every time I come here, I want to dominate.
'I just (had to) stay calm and get to my attacks. That's what I did.'
Windsor basked in the moment, jumping into the arms of his coaches with excitement and pleasing the Mat Classic crowd with a celebratory backflip. He screamed with conviction: 'One down, three to go!'
Windsor's freshman record? A perfect 40-0.
'Having my coaches in my corner means everything,' he said. 'Without them, I wouldn't be here. They push me every day to be a better person and just be a better athlete all-around.'
In a sea of the state's best wrestlers, there's plenty of black and gold.
Lincoln's Tavarre Lee captured the Boys 3A 132 title in a thrilling 1-0 decision, and the Abes control third place in the team standings as the Tacoma Dome's Mat Classic XXXVI rolls deeper into Friday night.
'The heart that our kids have,' Lincoln head coach Willie Ross said. 'That's what it is. They give me everything, I give it back to them. They're all family… They try their best and work their hardest. That's all I can ask for.'
Lee's one-point escape in the third period prevailed over Hermiston's Aidan Larson, though a potential late Larson takedown required referees to converge and discuss. In the end, officials raised Lee's arm to the sky, and the Lincoln junior turned toward the Abes faithful to point to the 'Lee' tattoo on his left wrist: 'You see the name!'
Four Abes reached respective state championships in all: Andrew Flores (120), William Ross (126), Lee (132), and Brad Amsden (285). Flores and Ross finished runner-up and, at the time of publication, Amsden had yet to wrestle.
Either way, mark down another successful year for a Lincoln wrestling program featuring five total semifinalists and a handful more in consolation ladders.
The cherry on top: Ross is the son of Lincoln wrestling coach Willie Ross, a father-son duo at the forefront of the Abes program. William won the 3A Boys 126 bracket as a freshman in 2024 at Mat Classic XXXV.
'I think I'm more nervous than they are,' Ross said with a smile before the semifinal rounds. '100 percent.
'It's overwhelming sometimes, because I get to watch the joy that (William) has,' Lincoln's coach continued. 'He loves to wrestle. It's not a competition to him. He just loves being here. He loves the family aspect of everything.
'It's amazing I get to watch him. It's hard because I'm his dad and his coach, but it's amazing.'
The Four-Time State Champions Club just welcomed a new member.
University's Libby Roberts defeated Shorewood's Finley Houck via fall (2:28) in Friday night's Girls 3A 110 championship match, completing the ultimate gauntlet to join elite company as the 23rd wrestler in state history to win four titles, boys or girls.
Prairie's Faith Tarrant (Girls 3A 235) can join the club with a win later Friday night.
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It was winter in the Spanish capital. Fabio Cannavaro was leaving Real Madrid's training ground when a stranger flagged him down. An autograph hunter, he thought. A piece of paper was produced from a pocket. But there was no pen to apply the accompanying signature. Instead, he was presented with what turned out to be a business card. Cannavaro saw the red lettering of France Football, the magazine behind the Ballon d'Or. Their reporter asked if he could get in the Italian defender's car. He was insistent. The vote for that year's award was happening in real time and a tipping point had been reached. Advertisement He thought Cannavaro was going to win. Cannavaro thought it was a joke. This was 2006 and, only a few months earlier, Cannavaro had captained his country to World Cup final glory. Still, he didn't think much of his chances. Zinedine Zidane's red card in that final gave him a shot. 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He is lesser spotted than Chiellini and Bonucci, and yet both credit him with making them better centre-backs. Both bow to him. When Barzagli retired in 2019, Juventus' manager at the time, Max Allegri, called him 'the professor of defenders'. It chimed nicely with Jose Mourinho's comment about the club being the Harvard of defending. And so for Leoni to draw comparisons with Barzagli at only 18 is no faint praise. It is rare for the big three in Italy to let a talent like him get away, and perhaps there is a parallel to be drawn with Marco Verratti here. Paris Saint-Germain gazumped Juventus in 2012 and Verratti, then a 19-year-old at second-division Pescara, never looked back. Is that what's happening with Leoni? On the one hand, the powerlessness to stop his move reflects the financial state of Serie A and the gulf in spending power between Italy's elite and their English peers. Serie A clubs have spent €860million (£742m; $1bn) gross so far this summer. A fair amount. Premier League teams, though, have cut cheques for nearly €2.4bn… At the same time, better choices could have been made by the domestic candidates for Leoni's signature. For example, the commitment made by Juventus' old sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli to sign Lloyd Kelly from Newcastle is one to rue. In that they only have themselves to blame. On the other hand, England is no longer the road less travelled for Italian players. It is more and more the direction of travel, especially for the young. If, like Leoni, Cannavaro had been playing for Parma in 2025 instead of 2002, his next move would probably have been to the Premier League, not Inter. The financial pull is too great but, regardless of the economics at play, it is where up-and-coming Italians are being encouraged to test themselves. When champions Italy were eliminated from Euro 2024 at the round-of-16 stage last summer, their coach at the time, Luciano Spalletti, said if the opportunity presents itself to go abroad, particularly to England, then Italians need to seize it. They'll be better for it, he argued, such is the standard and competitiveness. Flash forward 13 months and the Premier League has never been able to count on so many. Sandro Tonali, Riccardo Calafiori, Federico Chiesa, Michael Kayode, Luca Koleosho, Wilfried Gnonto, Diego Coppola, Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie. Maybe Gianluigi Donnarumma soon. This should be a source of optimism in their homeland. Advertisement Kayode, who got the only goal of the final when Italy won the Under-19 Euros two years ago, was an under-the-radar signing by Brentford from Fiorentina on an initial loan in January. Coppola, a 21-year-old who plays the same position as Leoni, has been picked up this summer by Brighton. 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In moving to Liverpool, the talented teenager addresses both immediate and long-term needs; a combination that perhaps makes it the ideal time and place for him to develop and learn from one of his heroes, a now 34-year-old Van Dijk. Leoni means Lions in Italian. It is a surname that calls to mind one of the most famous (now defunct) ultras groups in Italy, the Fossa dei Leoni at Milan, which translates as The Lions' Den. We'll have to see if that's what Liverpool's penalty area becomes in the Leoni era: a place to fear, a place nobody gets near. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
