Zook claims state title to lead five Wildcat medalists / Wrestling

Published 1:30 am Saturday, February 18, 2017

Sam Zook, an Oak Harbor High School senior, lived up to his season-long No. 1 ranking by winning the state 3A 285-pound wrestling championship Saturday, Feb. 18, at Mat Classic XXIX in the Tacoma Dome.

Five other Wildcats qualified for the state meet, and all but one ended up on the podium.

After an impressive performance by the Oak Harbor wrestlers Friday during the early rounds, the path became a little rougher for all but Zook Saturday.

Regardless, it was a big medal haul for the Wildcats. Caitlin Woodworth (170 pounds) finished fifth, Blake McBride (132) sixth, Meredith Bain (190) sixth and Nick Dugin (182) seventh. All but Bain, who was injured, finished at or above their rankings coming into the tournament.

As a team, the Oak Harbor boys placed 15th out of 59 3A schools represented at the tournament with 40 points. The Wildcats were ranked 17th prior to the meet. Bonney Lake claimed the title with 137 points.

Unlike the boys tournament, which was divided into five classifications based on enrollment, the girls tournament featured all of the state’s high schools. Oak Harbor took 27th out of 123 with 23 points. Yelm took the title with 97.

Zook became the ninth state champion from Oak Harbor and the first since Brian Lang in 2001. And he did it by defeating a familiar foe, Tristan Emery of Arlington, in the finals. Zook beat Emery for the Wesco North title two weeks ago and for the regional championship last week – all by falls. This time he pinned Emery at the 2:47 mark.

Zook reached the finals by squeezing by Nathan Scanlan of Spanaway Lake 3-2 in the semi-finals.

Zook placed third in last year’s tournament and was the top-ranked 285 wrestler by the Washington Wrestling Report all year. Just like last year, he lost only one match all season.

Bain, who placed seventh at state in 2016, was also ranked at the top of her weight class but suffered an injury in a 10-8 loss in the semi-finals and had to injury default her final two matches. Her wins in the first two rounds came over the two wrestlers who defeated her at state last winter.

Sophomore McBride, the only non-senior Wildcat at the tournament, won his first two matches Friday and entered Saturday in the semi-finals.

In the semis, McBride lost 20-5 to North Central of Spokane’s No. 1-ranked Clai Quintanilla. Quintanilla went on to win the title to become only the 14th wrestler in Washington to win four state crowns. McBride then lost 6-4 to second-ranked Eli Croy of Ferndale, followed by a 1-0 loss to Joey Chavez of Kamiakin in the match for fifth and sixth.

After winning two of three matches Friday, Woodworth repeated the effort Saturday, recording two falls, to finish fifth. She qualified for state last year but did not medal.

Dugin was the biggest surprise for Oak Harbor, coming into state ranked 15th. After topping two higher-ranked wrestlers earlier in the meet, he captured seventh with a 14-9 win over ninth-ranked Roger Kaffer of Peninsula.

“This was the best day I have had as the head coach at Oak Harbor,” Larry Falcon said. “I am very happy, very elated. The kids took their opponents down piece by piece.

“Having Sam win a title is almost surreal. There is no more deserving kid.”