By AL STOVER
Staff Reporter 

Nguyen and Taylor take fifth at Mat Classic

 

Last updated 2/23/2017 at 11:56am

Tyler Fryberger

Cheney's Boedy Taylor tosses Toppenish's Salvador Osorio during their match. Taylor defeated Osorio to advance to the fifth-place match.

Three Cheney Blackhawk wrestlers returned home with medals from Mat Classic XXIX, Feb. 17-18, in Tacoma.

Boedy Taylor (182 pounds) and Zack Nguyen (138) took fifth in their weight divisions while Francisco Martinez (145) was eighth in his.

"We knew we would be successful if we wrestled like we have been doing since day one," head coach Brad Rasmussen said. "For three of our guys to make it (to the podium) you can't help but be excited."

Taylor defeated Ridgefield's Dawson Lieurance, 10-5, then lost to Lindbergh's Diego Gallegos, 11-2, in the quarterfinals. In the consolation round, he defeated Ephrata's Andrew Anderson, 7-3 and pinned Sequim's Adrian Klarich before he lost to Chewleah's Brendenn Spahr. He defeated Toppenish's Salvador Osorio 7-2 in the fifth-place match to earn his second state medal.

Nguyen defeated Franklin Pierce's Quinton Foster, 2-1 and No.1 seed, Olympia's Jayden Fernandez, 8-6, then suffered back-to-back losses from Chewelah's Damon Thomas and Clarkston's Jake Freeman. He defeated Port Angeles' Ben Badsen, 8-6, in the fifth-place bout.

Martinez went 2-3 in his bracket, with wins over Region I champion, Bremerton's Diyamante Hall, 11-6, and R.A. Long's Owen Enrique, 7-6. He lost to Washougal's Nick Wolfe, via pinfall, in the seventh-place match.

"We had a couple of guys take out No. 1 seeds and that just proves how tough our region is," Rasmussen said. "Our region with the CWAC (Central Washington Athletic Conference) is a grinder and our kids were confident coming out of regionals."

Cheney's other state qualifier, Josh Baker (220), went 1-2 in his bracket before he was eliminated in the consolation round. As a team, the Blackhawks finished 17th out of 67 with 28 points.

"All of the kids had moments where they wrestled phenomenal," Rasmussen said.

The Blackhawks (3-1 Great Northern League, 8-3 overall) finished second in the league standings, including a 42-39 win over Clarkston on Jan. 5 - marking the first time Cheney defeated the Bantams in several years. Rasmussen added that his team was not expected to win any dual matches this season.

Tyler Fryberger

Cheney's Francisco Martinez attempts to escape from Bremerton's Diyamante Hall during their match.

"From day one, I told the guys, 'if you want respect, you have to earn it,'" he said. "They far exceeded expectations, individually and as a unit. We shocked people week after week and for the coaching staff and wrestling community, it was fun to see."

The team loses seven seniors to graduation: Baker, Martinez, regional qualifier Saul Bautista, Taylor Nguyen, Brenden Miller, Josh Corean and Kyle Perrine.

A plethora of athletes with varsity experience are expected to return next season, including Nguyen and Taylor, as well as several underclassmen. Rasmussen also anticipates many eighth-graders from Cheney and Westwood middle schools coming out for the team next year.

"We're starting to build a unifying program (between the schools)," Rasmussen said. "The next season starts today and we're preparing for camps and offseason workouts. We're doing everything we can to prepare for next year."

Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.

 

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