TACOMA — Brett Johnson sat alone in the corner of the Tacoma Dome.
Tears welled up in his eyes as he slowly untied his wrestling boots for the last time.
His fourth and final visit to the Mat Classic was over. And while he hadn’t gotten the state title he came for, Port Townsend’s senior 160-pounder did go out a winner.
Johnson claimed the third-place medal after beating Goldendale’s Brayden Ross 15-3 in perhaps the finest match of his career.
“Things don’t happen the way you want to sometimes, and you’ve just got to come back and wrestle,” said Johnson, who finished with three state medals in four visits to the Dome.
“That’s what I did today. It was a good feeling to go out like that . . . a very good feeling.”
Johnson’s was the top finish among the five North Olympic Peninsula wrestlers who placed at Mat Classic XXII this weekend.
It was also two spots short of where Johnson and his father, Joey Johnson, wanted to be.
“He didn’t accomplish what he wanted to [winning the state title],” said Joey, who is also the Redskins’ coach. “But sometimes there’s other things.
“You come back from disappointments like that, it says a lot about his character. He just digs in and goes after it.”
Brett Johnson advanced to the semifinals for the second year in a row with a pair of victories Friday.
Yet just as was the case in 2009, he couldn’t muster the effort in the semis against a top-tier opponent in Cashmere’s Roman Velazquez.
After going up 4-3 early in the second round against the eventual state champion, Brett Johnson simply ran out of gas.
Velazquez took full advantage, scoring two takedowns and two near-falls to claim a 14-4 victory.
Johnson responded with a pair of double-digit victories in the consolation bracket.
First he beat Ilwaco’s Tyler Odneal 13-3 to reach the third-place match. Then he chewed up Ross with four takedowns and two near falls for his second straight third-place medal.
“Other than about four minutes [in the semifinals] he wrestled pretty well,” Joey Johnson said. “He came back really well. We’re proud of him.
“I still think he’s the best in the state, but things happen.”
Bittersweet endings
Of course, Johnson wasn’t the only Peninsula wrestler to end his career in bittersweet fashion.
Seniors Adam Raemer of Port Angeles and Tanner House of Forks each won their last matches. But those came in fifth and seventh-place matches, respectively.
That was especially hard to swallow for Raemer, who came to the Dome with a No. 1 ranking in Class 3A at 145 pounds and heavy state title aspirations.
He finished fifth the year before in 3A at 140, and after claiming his first two matches on Friday, appeared primed to better that mark.
Just like his Port Townsend counterpart, however, Raemer was ousted from the semifinals for the second straight time, losing to Hamilton Noel of Liberty (Issaquah) in a 5-3 triple overtime heartbreaker (See the “state notebook” on Page B1 for full details).
After dropping his next match 11-6 to Hanford’s Matt Owens, Raemer rebounded with an inspired effort in the fifth-place match against Camas’ Scott Le.
The senior went down 2-0 to Le early on, then scored three takedowns and two near falls to win 14-2 for his second fifth-place medal.
“I’m really disappointed in my semifinals match that I lost,” Raemer said. “I’m not super-happy right now, because I thought I should be in the finals.
“I’m happy that I placed. I’m glad I came here and was able to pick up the pieces after I lost. So I’m happy about that.”
Raemer became just the second Port Angeles two-time state placer in 10 years with his 3-2 weekend.
The last Roughriders wrestler to achieve that was Rob Deco, who had seventh- and fifth-place finishes in 1999 and 2000, respectively.
“He went out a winner, it’s a memory that will last a lifetime,” Port Angeles coach Erik Gonzalez said. “He’s in elite company [with the two medals].
“I told him . . . ‘I know it hurts right now [not getting to the finals] and it’s going to hurt for a while, but when you have some time to sit back and reflect you’ll realize that you are in elite company and you were able to go out with a win.’ That’s important.”
Teammate Nathan Cristion gave the Riders a second state placer after taking eighth in the 3A 189-pound bracket.
The junior went 2-3 on the weekend, getting both of his wins Friday before suffering two defeats Saturday for the eighth-place finish.
“He got a medal at state, nobody can ever take that away from him,” Gonzalez said. “We had hoped and thought he’d finish a little higher than that, but the bottom line is when you get down here, they are all tough.
“Looking towards next year for him, it’s going to be a great senior year.”
Top Spartan
House had a roller-coaster ride of his own this weekend for the Spartans.
The 1A Southwest Washington Region heavyweight champion lost his first match Friday, falling 7-6 in overtime to Ashton Gottschalk of Naches Valley.
House rallied with a pair of pins in consolation bracket matches Friday, lost his first match Saturday 6-2, then rebounded yet again with a second-round pin of Orting’s Alex Barnes in the seventh-place match of the 1A 285-pound bracket.
“I was coming into the tournament expecting a little bit more, but you play the cards [you’re dealt],” said House, who got his first medal after two state appearances.
“It feels great to place my senior year. It feels good to go out on top and have a winning record.”
His was one of two medals from a Forks contingent that included four other wrestlers. Cutter Grahn claimed the other, taking sixth in 1A at 112 pounds.
The sophomore reached the semifinals with back-to-back point victories Friday, but was forced to settle for sixth after losing three straight to close out his second state trip.
He lost to state favorite and eventual state champion Sam Chapman of Vashon Island 8-0 in the semifinals.
“It’s never disappointing when you have a place, but I do think we could have done better,” Forks coach Bob Wheeler said.
Forks’ other three wrestlers — Tyler Cortani (1-2 at 112), Dayne House (0-2 at 119) and Travis Petrovich ( 1-2 at 152) — finished a combined 2-6 and were eliminated Friday.
“I don’t think we were at our best,” Wheeler said. “It’s just been a long process this year.
“It was a long year all year actually. We just didn’t quite get everybody where we needed to be.”
Early exits
Port Townsend’s Kris Windle (152) and Ryan Unbedacht (135) had early exits as well, with each going 0-2 Friday.
While it was the last hurrah for Unbedacht, a senior who was a late addition to the 1A tournament as an alternate, Windle still has one more year left to better the mark.
“We’re looking forward to having him back,” coach Johnson said. “It’s always nice to have somebody in the room that’s been here.”
Brett Johnson put up the same 0-2 showing his freshman season.
Three years later, however, he leaves Port Townsend as one of its most decorated wrestlers with three state medals.
Only two other Redskins wrestlers — Brett’s brother, Keith Johnson, and Sloan Gutierrez — have done that in the last 15 years.
“I did as best as I could do, and that’s all I can do,” Johnson said through his tears. “I accomplished a lot, and when I look back on it I’m really happy for myself.
“I don’t want it to be over, but it is.”
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Matt Schubert is a sports and outdoors reporter for the Peninsula Daily News. He can be reached at matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.