For Oak Harbor High School senior Joshua Crebbin, it was almost a storybook ending.
Crebbin was ranked seventh entering the 3A state wrestling tournament, then knocked off the first- and third-ranked 160-pound wrestlers on the way to finishing second at Mat Classic XXV at the Tacoma Dome Saturday, Feb. 16.
Crebbin lost 4-2 to Meadowdale’s fourth-ranked Morgan Smith in the championship bout.
Three other Wildcats placed in the meet. Courtney Shavers finished fourth in the 170-pound class, and Cody Fakkema and Jahleel Vester went 7-8 at 132.
Crebbin, who is the son of Oak Harbor coach Mike Crebbin, reached the semifinals by winning two matches Friday, including a 13-7 victory over top-ranked Cayle Williams of Bonney Lake. In the semis, Crebbin pinned third-ranked Bryson Pierce of North Central, setting up a match with Smith. Smith defeated Crebbin 9-4 in a dual match earlier this season.
Ninth-ranked Shavers reached the semifinals with upset wins over the eighth- and fifth-ranked wrestlers. In the semis he was pinned (1:46) by second-ranked Austin Stannard of University. He then slipped by seventh-ranked Max Ramos of Sunnyside 12-11 before losing by a fall (:51) to top-ranked Nick Karis of Decatur in the match for third and fourth.
Fifth-ranked Fakkema and eighth-ranked Vester each won two of three matches on Friday, then lost in their first bouts Saturday, forcing them to square off in the match for seventh and eighth. Fakkema, who also defeated Vester for the regional title, won the match 5-1.
Fakkema started Saturday by losing 3-2 to third-ranked Isaiah Diggs of Decatur. Vester lost 8-3 to ninth-ranked Rieley Smith of University.
Oak Harbor finished 10th in the team standings, best among Wesco schools, with 57 points. University took the title with 142.5.
