Cheney's Cameron Wiseman is seconds away from pinning Grandview's Maurice Prieto.
The Cheney High wrestling team will take a couple familiar faces and some new ones to the Mat Classic XXVIII, Feb. 19-20, at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma.
The Blackhawk had five wrestlers qualify for the state championships at the 2A Region 4 tournament, Feb. 13. It's the most wrestlers who have qualified for the state tournament in a season since head coach Brad Rasmussen took over the program in 2013.
Michael Ferguson (220 pounds) earned his second trip to state after winning his weight division. He pinned Ellensburg's Chance Walker and Pullman's Deitrick Mueler, then won the championship after Wapato's Javier Cortez could not compete due to injury.
Devon Waterman (195) qualified for his third state tournament after he finished second in his bracket. After he pinned Othello's Andy Reynolds and defeated Othello's Anthony Ruiz, 7-6, he lost to Clarkston's Dylan Beeler, 6-1 in overtime in the finals.
Garrett Pederson (285), who will make his first state appearance, also took second in his bracket. He pinned Ephrata's Raul Pelayo and defeated Quincy's Rey Rubio, 1-0. Toppenish's Jonathon Cuevas pinned him in the championship round.
"It was awesome," Rasmussen said. "They all worked so hard for so long and had a lot of adversity to deal with."
Cameron Wiseman (145) and Boedy Taylor (170) qualified for their first state appearance after they finished fourth in their weight divisions. Wiseman lost to East Valley's Brenton Goodwater, 8-5 in the third place match. Taylor won a pigtail match and advanced to the quarterfinals of his bracket, eventually losing to Othello's Abel Gomez, 5-1, in the third-place match.
"Cameron got head-butted during one of his matches but he came back from that and finished," Rasmussen said. "Boedy (Taylor) was the dark horse, we weren't sure what to expect out of him. Everyone wrestled as well as they could and it was fun to see them do that."
Zack Nguyen (132) earned an alternate spot at state after he took fifth in his weight division. Francisco Martinez (152) was eliminated in the consolation round of his bracket. Taylor Nguyen (120) and J.W. Merriott (182) were eliminated after losing their pigtail matches. As a team Cheney finished sixth out of 15 teams with 97 points.
Rasmussen said the team will have a few more workouts leading up to the Mat Classic, ones that focus on conditioning.
"Our expectation is to make it into the top 10 (as a team) and I think we can be in the top 6, I really do," Rasmussen said. "The kids also want to be successful individually, they want to get their name on the board and earn a medal."
Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.
Correction:
In the Feb. 4 issue of the Cheney Free Press in the story about the wrestling team at the Great Northern League Districts, it was incorrectly listed that Devon Waterman qualified for his third regional tournament. He actually qualified for his fourth regional tournament at the event.
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