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Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Mat Classic XXXVI: Harding, Salguero Jr. guide Orting to fourth consecutive 2A state title
It's become an annual tradition for Alan Salguero Jr. at the Tacoma Dome — win a state title, flash the 'O' for a delighted section of Orting supporters, then visit the bleachers to thank friends, family, and hundreds more. Salguero Jr. was sure to hug Mom and Dad first, but the senior superstar made plenty of time for the crowd, shaking hands and taking photos after claiming Saturday night's 2A 138 championship at the Tacoma Dome. 'This is our dynasty, the Orting dynasty,' Salguero Jr. said of his teammates, coaches, and supporters. 'It's really awesome.' This wasn't any state title win: It was Salguero Jr.'s fourth Mat Classic title, a symbol of perfection at the highest level. He took down Deer Park's Gavin Carnahan in a dominant shutout that ended via technical fall (15-0, 2:27) to make history, becoming just the 25th wrestler all-time to win four Mat Classic titles. 'I'm just really thankful,' he said. 'I get to experience this with my friends and family. It's really special to be a part of that four-time group.' Cardinals senior Quentin Harding followed suit, claiming his fourth Mat Classic title in a similar, suffocating fashion, and the Cardinals crowned six state champions in all. Orting piled 434 points and completed their banner year with another 2A team title, the program's fourth in a row. 'It's funny sometimes,' Orting's Levi DiCugno said, Saturday night's 2A 175 champion. 'People say, 'It's amazing Levi, you won state!' And I'm just thinking, like, 'Well, Q and AJ won it four times.' Orting's complete list of Mat Classic XXXVI champions: Nery Rivas (106): 'I've always dreamed about this. Being on this type of team, the support from Q-Harding, all of the seniors like AJ… really motivated me to be better.' Trevor Anderson (120): 'We had to come and dominate. We've been dominating all year at every tournament. I felt like we just had to. It was meant to be, you know? I could not see Toppenish beating us. I couldn't see us taking second this year. It just doesn't go through my mind, taking second.' Alan Salguero Jr. (138): 'The goal I've (had) since I was a kid was to become a four-timer. I wasn't going to let anything stop me from achieving that. I wanted to go in with a calm mind, and just do what I was going to do. Just let things fly and see what happens. I wanted to be relaxed and flowing.' Michael Fritz (144): 'I've got my parents (watching) up there. I've got my whole family. It's really special. My wrestling family. I've grown up with all of these people, so it feels like home.' Quentin Harding (157): 'It's everything I've wanted since I was little. … It's like, 'I'm going to be a four-time state champion. I'm going to be a four-time state champion.' I kind of tricked myself into thinking I'm going to be a four-time state champ. Now I am a four-time state champ.' Levi DiCugno (175): 'One of my favorite wrestlers always says: 'Listen like a robot, practice like a dog.' Listen like a robot in practice, record everything you hear, and get on the mat and wrestle like a dog.' Harding expected another state title, but he didn't expect to face longtime Orting teammate Will Lowery in the 157-pound championship. It took nearly five minutes, but Harding prevailed via technical fall (20-4, 4:59) and held up four fingers on each hand for the home crowd. 'We're teammates, we love each other, but we're going to go at each other the hardest we've ever gone at each other because we want the state championship,' Harding said. 'Shoutout to Will. He was overlooked the entire time in the bracket. They said a couple of other kids were dark horses, never mentioning his name. He showed out today. He was amazing.' Orting's Nery Rivas pinned Black Hills' Roberto Rivera-Jesus for the 2A 106 title and Cardinals sophomore Trevor 'TJ' Anderson smothered Woodland's Mathis Johns via technical fall, building a 17-0 lead in the championship's first period. Anderson said Friday he wanted to pin or tech each and every opponent he faced at Mat Classic XXXIV. Consider his mission a major success. 'Just stay dominant' was Anderson's mindset. 'I knew I could turn him on top, because I knew on his feet, he's good at those throws. I took him under… and dominated him.' Michael Fritz (2A 144) captured his second Mat Classic title over Burlington-Edison's Chase Weber via 7-1 decision, and Levi DiCugno won his second championship over Bainbridge's Garrett Goade in a physical 5-2 bout. Orting's Ty Satiacum Jr. (2A 126) and Dominic Thomas (2A 132) finished runner-up. 'This group ran on all cylinders,' Orting head coach Jody Coleman said. 'I love this group of kids. I'm bummed we don't have practice on Monday, and I hope some of them feel that way, too.' Harding and Salguero Jr. never lost inside the Tacoma Dome — and their team never lost, either. For a fourth straight season, the 2A team title heads to the same trophy case at Orting High. The Cardinals' 434 points were far and away the most by any team in any classification at Mat Classic XXXVI, adding to a dynasty that was already cemented. For Orting's seniors, winning at the Tacoma Dome is all they'll ever know. 'It's what we do,' DiCugno said. 'I just got used to it. Orting wins state, that's what we do. It's what (we) grew up with. They see all their friends winning it the years before, and they want to win it, too. I think it's a great community there.' Orting (434) pulled away from Toppenish (317) in the closing hours, fending off their rival in a two-man race between two of the state's premier programs. Both outscored 2A's third- and fourth-place finishers combined (Othello, 178.5 and W.F. West, 127.5). 'You're seeing talent from all different places,' Thomas said. 'You're seeing a lot of different wrestling styles, so you're adapting to all of them. Everybody's a killer in that room.' Anderson embraced the renewed rivalry after the Wildcats rose to 2A last fall. In the early hours of Friday's first rounds, he called his shot: 'A lot of (fans) came here to watch us beat Toppenish this year.' It wasn't an option, he said. 'We were both going for four straight team titles,' Anderson said. 'It feels good to stop their run.' It's way too early — but when Orting enters Mat Classic XXXVII next year at the Tacoma Dome, why not five straight titles? 'We're losing five really tough kids,' Coleman said, 'and we're getting five really tough kids in the door.' 2A BOYS — Orting (434) 2A GIRLS — Toppenish (273.5) 1A BOYS — Wapato (300.5) 1A/2B/1B GIRLS — Granger (184) 2B/1B BOYS — Tonasket (276.5)
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Mat Classic XXXVI: Orting's Harding, Salguero Jr. chase elusive fourth state title
When the Orting Cardinals enter the Tacoma Dome each February, the lights aren't too bright. The moment isn't too big, and the overwhelming sprawl of countless wrestlers — plus thousands more looking on — isn't so overwhelming. It's more than 'they've been here before.' In Tacoma, winning is all the Cardinals know. The defending three-time 2A team champions are back for more: Orting sent 14 wrestlers to Saturday's quarterfinals and beyond, and the Cardinals hold a slim lead over Toppenish for what could become their fourth-straight team title at Mat Classic XXXVI. 'Everybody's in good spirits,' Orting coach Jody Coleman said Friday. 'We drilled the heck out of them (at practice this week), so I think they're just hungry to wrestle.' Some schools bring two or three wrestlers to Tacoma. Stronger programs bring eight or nine. Orting brought two dozen. The Cardinals returned four reigning individual champions to Mat Classic XXXVI: Dominic Thomas (132), Alan Salguero Jr. (138), Quentin Harding (157), and Levi DiCugno (175). Also back are a pair of runner-ups from last year in sophomores Laithan Lawson and Ty Satiacum Jr. And don't forget Trevor 'TJ' Anderson, this season's 2A SPSL Wrestler of the Year who fell in last year's 2A 120 semifinals and hasn't lost since. Anderson (32-0) hunted opponents like prey in Friday morning's opening rounds, instantly attacking and maintaining pressure. 'I don't want to give any of these kids hope that they can win,' Anderson said after a quick, seemingly-effortless win in the Round of 16 via fall (1:07). 'I just want to go out and dominate.' It's a two-team race on the 2A boys team leaderboard between Orting and Toppenish, once again rivals after the Wildcats rose from 1A last fall. The Wildcats visited Orting for a highly-anticipated dual meet last December where the Cardinals prevailed by a razor-thin margin, 33-32. 'No disrespect to 1A, we had a great run in 1A, but obviously we didn't belong there,' Toppenish head coach Pepe Segovia told The News Tribune this week. 'Just all the politics and logistics behind the classification, we had to drop down. But... we chased the competition in 1A, now in 2A. We did the same thing. Nothing changed. 'We went out of our way and finally went out to Orting. After years of trying to get that duel to happen, Coach Jody (Coleman) said, 'You know what? Let's do it.' So we went out there, had a very intense match, pretty much for bragging rights as Washington's best team, and Orting got the best of us by a point. That's unsettled business. We're looking to get the victory and avenge that loss where it really counts – at the Dome.' Quentin Harding and Alan Salguero Jr.'s quest to join elite company lives on. The pair of Orting seniors can win their fourth individual state title at Mat Classic XXXVI — something just 22 wrestlers (18 boys) in state history have completed. Harding collected a pair of technical falls in the 2A 157's opening rounds, and Salguero Jr. notched a fall and technical fall (2A 138) to advance to Saturday's state quarterfinals at the Tacoma Dome. 'We've known each other since we were little,' Salguero Jr. said. 'We helped each other grow, always competed against each other. He's my best friend on and off the mat, and we continue to push each other. (Winning a fourth) would be really special to us.' Harding and Salguero Jr. would join three wrestlers in Orting history to accomplish the feat: Drew Templeman (2009-12), Fred Green (2012-15), and Alexander Cruz (2015-18). And neither shy away from the limelight. Winning a fourth individual title is a daily discussion at practice, and the team embraces the pressure in completing a 2A team four-peat. The message during Friday morning's warmups: 'One last ride. Let's go do it.' 'We don't feel like there's crazy pressure,' Harding said. 'We just want to go have fun and do what we love to do.' Salguero Jr. agreed. 'I'm just going out there and trying to have fun. Win or lose, it doesn't matter.' Coleman, arguably the busiest coach of the weekend with 24 wrestlers in attendance, wants to soak all of it in. 'It's kind of bittersweet, because I've known these kids forever,' Coleman said. 'We do have some seniors that are really special to me, in my heart, because I watched them grow up. I'm just trying to embrace the next week, because that's it. I've known them since they were like five years old, and then they're gone. 'I guess I'm just trying to enjoy the moment.' 2A BOYS — Orting (138.5) 2A GIRLS — Toppenish (92) 1A BOYS — Wapato (112.5) 1B/2B BOYS — Okanogan (99) 1A/1B/2B GIRLS — Zillah (58) These local wrestlers advanced to Saturday's state quarterfinals: 2A BOYS 106 — Nery Rivas, Orting; Roberto Rivera-Jesus, Black Hills 113 — Arcadius Cruz, Orting 120 — Trevor Anderson, Orting; Rorek Foss, Black Hills 126 — Cash Boos, Black Hills; Ty Satiacum Jr., Orting 132 — Justice Lopez, Orting 138 — Alexander Richardson, Foss; Alan Salguero Jr., Orting 144 — Michael Fritz, Orting; Laithan Lawson, Orting; Porter Niklason, Black Hills 150 — Brock Armstrong, Orting 157 — Quentin Harding, Orting; William Lowery, Orting; Mekhi Richardson, Tumwater 165 — Ammon Combs, Black Hills; William Conroy, Fife 175 — Levi DiCugno, Orting; Amos Voss, Orting 190 — Urijah Satiacum, Orting 215 — Jameson Beckord, Eatonville 285 — Trevion Johnson, Foss 2A GIRLS 100 — Sloane Kruger, Black Hills; Shan-Lee Salazar, Orting 105 — Najalia Baublits, Eatonville; Kenzie Goodman, Orting; Kyler Menza, Washington 110 — Athena Kusander, Washington 115 — Lilly Hopkins, Orting 120 — Aleeciya Meredith, Franklin Pierce 125 — Madison Watts, Orting 135 — Jayden Crouch, Orting 140 — Amayrany Rodriguez, Franklin Pierce 155 — Breanna Klein, Clover Park; Isabella Steinebach, Black Hills 170 — Makenzie Ball, Eatonville; Madeline Payne, Black Hills 190 — Isabella Chernard, Black Hills; Belleza Torres, Orting 1A BOYS 113 — Tyler McManemy, Cascade Christian 120 — Devon McManemy, Cascade Christian 126 — Aiden Kucera, Cascade Christian 144 — Casper Appleman, Cascade Christian 215 — Caleb Harris, Cascade Christian; Zachary McKnight, Life Christian 285 — Griffen Wells, Cascade Christian 1A/1B/2B GIRLS 115 — Makenna Kelpman, Life Christian 130 — Hazel Nielsen, Vashon Island 145 — Persephone Puz, Vashon Island 190 — Mercedes Chavez, Life Christian; Alara Demir, Vashon Island 235 — Sophie Stennes, Cascade Christian
