The Mount Vernon Bulldogs wrestling team did a wonderful job this past weekend wrestling the best they have all season long at the time that it mattered the most.  Everyone of the wrestlers wrestled well and impressed both our coaching staff as well as staffs from opposing schools.  As a team we finished in fourth place with 181 points.  Without a full lineup and only one wrestler at most of the weights...that is an awesome feat.  We weren't far behind Ferndale who had a considerable number more entrants into the tournament.  We also qualified six wrestlers into the Regional tournament with another two as alternates.  We also had another three wrestlers place at the tournament that fielded 16 man brackets from 8 different schools. 

 

Friday night the kids wrestled really well.  We had 11 wrestlers still in the tournament out of the 15 wrestlers we had entered into the tournament.  Six of those 11 were in the Semi-Finals.  On Saturday while the Semi-Finals weren't particullarly kind to us, they went about as expected considering two of those in the Semi's were wrestling returning state champions and one against a returning state place winner.  All three of those that lost competed in their matches even though they lost.  As a coach that's all you can really ask of your athletes is that they compete and the entire staff was impressed with how well the entire team competed all weekend.

 

119 - Pavel Okara - 5-1 - Third Place - Pavel wrestled really well.  We still are having a little trouble communicating but he is doing an amazing job of feeling where his opponent is and how to avoid giving anything up and then creating something.  He beat a highly ranked wrestler from Everett in his match for third place and anything can happen next weekend, so don't be suprised to see him moving on to state next weekend.  He is so much stronger than his opponents that it really gives him an advantage in his matches.

 

130 - Ben Drake - 0 - 2 - Ben did not place but did wrestle well and competed in his matches.  Ben is still young and learning a lot in the room and should be one of the guys we expect a lot out of next season. 

 

135 - Brian Arrellano - 1-2 - Brian did not place, but he was right in every match.  His match that he won was a rematch from our dual with Ferndale and Brian controlled the match and really did a good job of doing what he wanted versus falling into what the Ferndale wrestler wanted to do.  He then moved on and had some really nice shots in on his next two opponents but was unable to finish the matches off as he was nursing his back a little bit throughout the weekend.  Brian is another wrestler we will be expecting a lot from next season.

 

140 - Jordan Watts - 3-0 - First Place - Jordan did a good job of controlling his matches this weekend.  He wrestled his match during each of them and made his opponent do what Jordan wanted rather than the other way around.  He was able to ride his opponents for multiple rounds at a time and did a really good job of controlling his opponents' hips during each match.  He gave up some points in the finals based on penalties that the coaching staff really didn't agree with but Jordan kept his composure and wrestled his match to get the victory 6-3 in a match that wasn't that close in score.  Jordan is currently ranked as high as sixth in the poll done by a follower of 3A wrestling, but I wouldn't be suprised to see him finish ahead of that.

 

140 - Donald Goddard - 1-2 - Donald did not place but wrestled well in his matches.  He was able to get a fall against an Everett wrestler in his second match and really did a lot of good things in that match.  In his other matches he was just giving up a lot of experience to his opponents and in the next few seasons he should be on the opposite end of those kinds of matches.

 

145 - Aaron O'Neill - 2-2 - Fifth Place - Aaron placed fifth which is where he was seeded, however, the seeds were not exactly right based on records, and some of the farther south schools had inflated records from not wrestling very good opponents.  Had Aaron been in another position things might have been different for both him and Stefan.  Aaron lost to the number one seeded wrestler who is a returning state placer in the semi-finals.  He then lost a close match to a wrestler from Everett who does a lot of freestyle wrestling and caught Aaron a little bit out of position twice to get all 8 of his points winning the match 8-4.  Aaron then wrestled Stefan in the fifth and sixth place match and won 13-7. 

 

145 - Stefan Vandenkooy - 4-3 - Sixth Place - Stefan had a great but rough tournament.  He wrestled some of the best we've seen all season from him, but he also was in a match that ended up not counting because it was the wrong opponent, and allowed his opponent to do some things that he should not have been able to do (like turn his back to Stefan and walk back to the center).  Stefan's lack of mat time showed a little bit, but the fact that he is only a sophmore made the coaching staff really pleased to see what is yet to come from him.  Stefan lost his first match because of one small mistake, after dominating most of the match on their feet with his double leg.  That was a tough loss for Stefan but he showed his character and came back and won three matches that night (one of them being the one that didn't count), all three of those matches he wrestled well in (even though the coaches weren't happy with one of them, he wrestled well while he was actually wrestling, we just needed to bottle that time and make it last six minutes rather than the first three or four of letting his opponent act like a goof).  Stefan moved on to Saturday and in his first match pinned his opponent in 30 seconds.  It was over so fast that I didn't even see it happen, I saw him get on the mat looked down, and saw him get his hand raised.  Doug said it was a great double leg though.  He then lost a very tough match to a Ferndale wrestler.  The final was 5-4.  Stefan was in on a takedown right toward the end of the match but the Ferndale wrestler scrambled and got the two to get the victory with only like 1 second left.  It was a tough loss but one that will make Stefan better over the next two years. 

 

152 - Joe Barrington-Richards - 3-0 - First Place - Joe came into the tournament as the 3 seed, but showed that he has made big improvements not just this season but over the past few weeks.  Joe wrestled in control the entirety of his matches and really owned the mat, which is one of the things we really focus on with him.  Joe won his first match with a first round pin and then wrestled the number 2 seed.  Joe owned the match only giving up an escape in the second round en route to a 10-1 major decision.  He then wrestled a returning state place winner from Ferndale.  Joe again controlled the match and was the only wrestler showing any action as he really took his opponent out of his game and won the match 5-2 with his only points given up being 2 escapes.  Joe continues to improve his wrestling as the season moves on and it should be exciting the next few weeks.  He is currently ranked third in the state in the polls done by a follower of 3A wrestling, but I wouldn't be suprised to see him finish higher than that.

 

152 - Cody Patrick - 3-2 - Seventh Place - They decided on Saturday morning to wrestle out to seventh place and Cody took advantage of that winning his seveth place match.  Cody wrestled well and showed a lot of promise at the tournament.  He lost a very close 3-2 match to the fifth place finisher in his consolation quarterfinal match.  He is another one of the sophmores that the coaching staff is really excited to see how they mature and improve over the next two years and we all expect big things from Cody.

 

160 - Adolph Rivas - 2-1 - Second Place - Adolph wrestled really well throughout the tournament.  He wrestled in control the entire match his first one, then wrestled a returning state competitor in his second match.  Adolph was able to get a reversal with only a few seconds remaining in that match and though the Ferndale coaches weren't happy with the call it was the right one.  Adolph pulled that one out 4-3 and really gave him a lot of confidence moving forward.  His finals match was against a highly ranked wrestler from Everett.  And though he lost 8-3 he wrestled well and nearly got a reversal toward the end which would have made it closer.  Adolph continues to improve throughout the season and certainly is capable of making some noise in the next few weeks by beating some more highly ranked wrestlers.  Adolph is currently ranked 8th in the 3A polls, which he is certainly capable of and may surpase which wouldn't suprise any of his coaches with how he has been wrestling.

 

160 - David Buchanan - 0-2 - David had a tough go in what would be his final tournament of high school.  He did some things well but just couldn't quite pull out his two matches.  David was disappointed with how it turned out but he certainly did a lot of good things this season and has nothing to be disappointed about when looking back at the entirety of the season. 

 

171 - Derek Almanza - 4-2 - Fourth Place - Derek showed a lot of bright spots this weekend.  He wrestled the best we've seen in his two seasons, and for a second year wrestler to make the regional tournament is very impressive.  Derek won his first match by fall then wrestled a very highly ranked wrestler from Everett.  Derek went into the third round with him and the match was scoreless after the first.  Though Derek wasn't scoring he was shutting down what his opponent was doing as well which was very good to see.  He ended up losing by fall late in the match but showed some big bright spots.  He then went on to win his next three matches.  One of them by fall and the other two by decisions.  The last one was the toughest mentally as he had to wrestle against Marchael his teammate, in the match that would determine who gets into the regional tournament.  Derek won 10-3, moving him on to the third/fourth match.  Derek lost that match by fall.  Overall his tournament was a big suprise to the coaching staff and really encouraging that we will get to have him back for another season, and continue to see improvement from him over the next year.

 

171 - Marchael Acode - 3-2 - Fifth Place - Marchael is going to be an alternate to the regional tournament after some great wrestling from a first year wrestler.  Marchael showed a lot of heart in his matches as well as desire.  In the pre-tournament brackets he was going to have one match before he would wrestle Derek Garcia of Sedro-Woolley.  Derek is a very decorated wrestler with a very bright future, and Marchael really wanted the challenge of wrestling him.  Marchael went through his first two matches with ease and dominated both of his opponents, pinning both the #4 and #5 seeds.  Showing a side we hadn't seen all season.  After the second one he came off so excited that he would get to wrestle Derek now.  On saturday that was Marchael's first match of the day in the Semi-Finals.  That match Marchael fought hard but was wrestling a wrestler who has been training at the Olympic training Center for the past year and is going to wrestle for Ohio State University next year.  So though Marchael didn't win he wrestled hard and didn't allow him to do everything he wanted, and Marchael was also not intimidated to wrestle him which is a great sign.  Marchael then had to wrestle his teammate Derek to see who would move on to regionals.  Marchael lost but did wrestle hard.  He then had to bounce back to become an alternate.  The start of the match was a little slow but Marchael continued to show his competitive side and once the opportunity arrived he quickly put some moves together and pinned his opponent to finish in fifth place.  We expect a lot of big things over the next two years from another talented sophmore.

 

215 - Chucky Bosquet - 3-1 - Third Place - Chucky was an example of how hard work can pay off as he qualified for regionals after only his second year of wrestling.  Chucky has done a lot of work this season bringing his weight down so he could wrestle at a weight that he would be more competitive at and it showed this weekend as he finished third.  Chucky got a fall in his first match, then wrestled a returning state champion in his second.  Though Chucky didn't win, he did show a lot of heart and wrestled a tough match.  He then had to wrestle his teammate Ricky in the match to determine who would move on to regionals.  This match finished 5-4 after double overtime.  Chucky showed that he wanted to compete and wrestle as he pulled this one out.  He then wrestled in the 3/4 place match and showed his competitiveness in a 4-3 victory.  This match was one of his best of the tournament, and season. 

 

215 - Ricky Rodriguez - 2-3 - Sixth Place - Ricky also showed what hard work can do as he finished in sixth place.  His tournament was some of the best of the weekend by our team and he really made some big strides.  His match against Chucky was a very tough loss, but was the closest those two have been all season and it really showed how he was ready to compete.  Ricky got two falls earlier in the tournament to get to where he was and was in good shape in his 5/6 place match before he fell off to the side during one of his shots.  His opponent capitalized on the mistake, but for Ricky to get to where he did was a real suprise for the coaching staff.  Ricky is another one who we expect a lot of big things from over the next few years as he is very cerebral about the sport and always is thinking of how he can do better.

 

Girls 119 - Ricarda Garcia - 2-0 - First place.  Ricarda pinned her way through the tournament in Squalicum and wrestled really well from what Ryan said. 

 

Marqueta and Cheyenne both wrestled in the girls tournament as well but neither one of them placed.  Ryan said they did some good things during their matches but were unable to pull them out. 

 

Overall the weekend showed how the Bulldogs do continue to improve through the season and have a history of finishing higher than their seeds as the season comes to a close.  They definately did that this year and impressed the coaching staff with how they competed in their matches.  It really has the staff excited for the next few weeks as well as the next few years as we return all but two of our boys and one girl who qualified for regionals. 

 

It's a great day to be a Bulldog!

Paul