Oak Harbor wrestling coach Brian Farmer couldn’t have asked for more at last weekend’s Mat Classic.
Three Wildcat wrestlers entered the class 4A state tournament at the Tacoma Dome Friday and all three walked away on Saturday with top eight finishes.
“It was a great performance, the kids did awesome,” Farmer said.
The lone senior representative, Tony Nicolas (145 pounds), had the highest placing for the Cats at third. After winning his first two matches by decision, Nicolas received a brutal draw in the semi-finals against two-time defending champion Tyler Sherfey of Kamiakan.
Sherfey, who had already mowed over his two first round opponents, pinned Nicolas with 49 seconds left in the second round.
“That kid—in my opinion was the best wrestler there,” Farmer said.
After taking a tough loss, Nicolas rebounded with an 8-0 decision over Jon Porter of Evergreen, followed by an injury default victory over Danny Smith of Bremerton to capture third place.
“He bounced back from his loss really well,” Farmer said.
Things started out on the wrong track for junior Karlson Miller (103), but he quickly recovered to make a memorable first-ever state appearance. After dropping a first-round 5-0 decision to Joe Vella of Moses Lake, Miller rattled off three consecutive victories to put him in position for placement.
“He came from behind a couple of times to get back into the thing,” Farmer said.
Miller eventually fell by pin to Jerry Yniquez of Pasco, settling into the sixth place position.
A week after going down with strained tendon in his leg, junior Chris Wichers (140) wasn’t going to let an injury ruin his first state appearance.
Wichers battled through the lingering pain, to finish in seventh place in his weight class.
“Chris couldn’t practice all week because of that injury—he just gutted it out,” Farmer said. “It’s unfortunate that it happened, but it shows you just how tough Chris Wichers is.”
Wichers won two out of his first four bouts, before defeating Drew Beaudoin of East Valley Spokane in a 12-7 decision in his final match of the tournament.
Oak Harbor finished 23rd as a team with 28 team points. Lake Stevens captured the 4A title with 124.5 total points.
