Cardinal is not only youngest champ from school but first since 2004
Medical Lake's Ethan Davis stands atop the podium following his win at Mat Classic XXIX at 132 pounds. He was the first freshman to ever win a state championship at the school and its first since 2004.
Medical Lake's wrestling team continued to excel in the postseason, this time at Mat Classic XXIX in the Tacoma Dome where freshman Ethan Davis won a 2018 state title at 132 pounds.
"Medical Lake has never had a freshman champ and the last state champ was 2004," head coach Matt Leenhouts wrote in an email. That title winner was Garrett Johnson. Two more freshmen, June Figueredo at 113 pounds was third and Alex Gonzalez (126) sixth. They were part of a group of seven wrestlers who earned berths in the 1A event and three more who were alternates.
While the team fell short of its hoped-for top-10 finish, ending up 13th, the Cardinals (56.5 points) had three wrestlers earn podium finishes. Northeast A League Deer Park won the team title with 159 points followed by Colville (136) and Freeman (116) as the local league dominated much of the competition.
Davis finished with a 44-7 record as he beat Luke Larson of Vashon Island in a technical fall in a time of 3 minutes, 18 seconds. He breezed through preliminary rounds with wins of 5-0 over Keith Thompson of Forks High School and Juan Arteage from Grandview 7-4. Davis earned his shot at the championship by beating Eduardo Rodriguez from Royal, 8-2.
Figueredo concluded his initial high school season with a 33-13 record. He lost in the semifinals. Gonzalez had a season record of 27-15. Weston Thomas, a 2017 placer, had a record of 30-16 in 2018 at 113 pounds. Josh Figueredo had a 2018 record of 35-14 at 145 pounds.
Justin Warnick was 24-17 in 2018 at 138 pounds, while Izaiah Schlosser recorded a 24-13 dual match record and also qualified for state at 220 pounds. Skyler Petersen (23-14 at 106), Sam Griffey (29-16/160) and Nick Thompson (11-19/285) concluded the Cardinal participants at state.
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.
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