TACOMA — A morning of triumph in the semifinal round turned into an evening of Mat Classic disappointment as all four North Olympic Peninsula state wrestling finalists lost in their championship matches.
The margins of defeat in Saturday night’s finales were measured by close calls in two matches: a controversially officiated 5-4 three overtime defeat for Forks’ Jack Dahlgren against Montesano’s Kylar Prante in the Class 1A 182-pound final, and a near-comeback in the final 10 seconds by Forks’ Alvaro Ortiz in a 1-0 loss to Colville’s Trent Baun in their 113-pound title match.
In the other two matches, the area finalists couldn’t capture the mat magic that had guided them through a lengthy regular and postseason.
Port Townsend’s Chloe Rogers suffered her second consecutive state final loss in the 140-pound girls final, this time to Wilson’s Flor Parker-Borrero at 3:03.
Forks’ heavyweight Tristan Tumaua’s attempt to become the second straight Spartan to win a 285-pound state championship (Miguel Morales won in 2015) fell short when he was pinned at 3:43 by Montesano’s Taylor Rupe.
Forks finished 10th overall as a team, the fourth consecutive top-10 finish for the Spartans after taking ninth in 2013, second in 2014 and fifth last season.
For Dahlgren, it was the second straight Mat Classic that he suffered on a disputed decision by a referee.
He lost in the semifinals on his way to third place last season on a takedown that Forks head coach Bob Wheeler, a state Wrestling Hall of Famer, said was bogus.
This time around, the controversy surrounded a stall warning given to Dahlgren and a series of unpenalized stalls not whistled on Prante.
For much of the match, Prante would ride up, nearly piggy-backing Dahlgren when the Forks wrestler was in the bottom position. These leg rides happened six times by Wheeler’s count.
Dahlgren was down 4-2 with 38.8 seconds left and again in the bottom position when Prante appeared to commit the same violation. No warning was given, nor point awarded to Dahlgren.
Dahlgren pulled within one point after escaping Prante as both wrestlers left the mat.
With Dahlgren back in the down position, Prante appeared to try the leg ride/piggy-back maneuver one more time.
Instead Dahlgren was whistled for the violation. No point was awarded to Prante, but Wheeler said the referee appeared ready to grant the point foul.
“What the referee was going to do at that point was give Prante another point because we were stalling when Prante was the one standing up,” Wheeler said.
“I believe that Prante should have been called earlier for stalling. There was no reason to go after Jack. Jack was the only one making shots.
“That’s two years in a row that Jack has been taken down by a referee’s decision at state.
“The problem was they weren’t even listening to me, the leg ride kept going in there and the ref wasn’t giving him warnings or giving Jack points for those stalls.”
A lengthy debate ensued, as Wheeler and the Montesano coaches offered their sides of the story to referees, and finally to WIAA rules officials.
The match resumed after a lengthy hiatus. Dahlgren was again in the bottom position, this time with 16.6 seconds to go.
He managed the tying escape with 2.9 seconds remaining, but couldn’t keep Prante from the escape in the third overtime period.
Ortiz fought to the end of his 1-0 loss in the 113-pound state championship to Colville’s Trent Baun.
Baun earned the match’s lone point on an escape at the 1:35 mark of the second period. His long arms prevented Ortiz from going on the offensive early in the match.
“Yeah, he was hard to shoot on,” Ortiz said.
“He’s a good Greco[-Roman] wrestler. I knew not to tie up with him so I wouldn’t get thrown. But at the same time, it was really hard to shoot on him.”
The match was decided in the final seconds. Ortiz had three chances to earn escape or reversal points in the third period, two in the final 37 seconds.
“I couldn’t get the escape or a reversal at the end,” Ortiz said.
The final 10 seconds saw Ortiz get to his feet from the bottom position, but he couldn’t break Baun’s hold to score the needed point.
He finishes his senior season with a 25-6 record, and his third state placement after taking fifth at 120 pounds the past two seasons.
“I know I like it [what I’ve accomplished], but I had that clench in the last 10 seconds,” Ortiz said.
“I just couldn’t finish it and got locked up.”
Tumaua pinned
Wrestling for the fourth time this season against Rupe, Tumaua lost for the third time when he was unable to get a handhold on the Montesano wrestler, and was pinned while trailing 2-0 in the second period.
“Rupe is a very smart wrestler who knows how to tailor his style to avoid providing opportunities,” Wheeler said.
“He didn’t allow Tristan any openings, and he was able to take advantage when his came.”
Wheeler hopes the 10th-place finish and the three finals losses motivate his returning wrestlers.
“I’d like to think they’ll be upset about this, think about this and make the changes necessary to have more success,” Wheeler said.
“Montesano [which Forks beat for the Evergreen League title and at subregionals] passed us by here at state. I hope that the kids coming back remember how that feels.”
The Spartans had two consolation medalists. Joel Mohn ended his career with an 11-4 victory in the Class 1A 160-pound bracket to take seventh place. Freshman Josue Lucas finished eighth in the 106-pound division.
Rogers taken out
Port Townsend’s Chloe Rogers ran into a defending state champion in Wilson’s Parker-Borrero in her final.
Parker-Borrerro claimed the 135-pound title last season.
Rogers, a physically strong wrestler who amassed a 35-3 mark on the season, couldn’t wrestle her match against the speedy Parker-Borrero.
“She was just really good, she was quick and I guess I just wasn’t expecting that,” Rogers said.
“She was locking me up and throwing me.”
Rogers tried her best to get her back off the mat in the first round when she was saved from a pin at the end of the round.
Trailing 7-0 in the second round, Rogers got into more trouble in the first 30 seconds of the second period.
“When she got on top, she really cranked at [my arms],” Rogers said.
“She was just holding me down and going over my legs so I couldn’t arch as much as I needed to.”
Despite the back-to-back finals disappointments, Rogers was able to look at the positives she’s reaped in her two years competing in the sport.
“I’m still really happy I chose to wrestle,” Rogers said.
“I got to go to state twice, I got to wrestle in the state finals twice. Overall, I have so many good memories from wrestling.”
Port Townsend’s other state wrestler, Cody McClain, placed seventh in the Class 1A boys 220-pound bracket by pinning against Reyes Ramirez of Wahluke at the 4:19 mark.
Two placers for Port Angeles
The stellar career of Port Angeles’ four-time state placer Tyler Gale came to a difficult end with a 3-1 overtime loss in the third-place match to Cedarcrest’s Parker McBride.
Gale injured a knee during the match and gritted through two injury-time stoppages before losing.
Gale finished his senior season 42-4. He earned two fourth-places finishes and also finished fifth and seventh at state in his career.
Earlier in the semifinals, Gale couldn’t mount an offensive charge in his 4-1 semifinal loss against Wapato’s Alex Vaca.
He reached the third-place match after a 5-0 win against Squalicum’s Jace Cooper in the consolation semifinals.
Port Angeles’ Ben Basden earned redemption from a first-round loss to Foster’s Luis Cuellar with an exhausting 4-3 win in four overtimes to earn fifth place in the 126-pound bracket.
Basden, a junior, improved on his finish from last season when was seventh at 120 pounds.
Basden beat Clarkston’s Jack Freeman 4-2, but then fell 11-2 to Ridgefield’s Trevor Newburn in the consolation semifinals.
Three Wolves reach podium
Sequim’s Kevyn Ward fell 6-0 in his seventh-place match against Shorecrest’s Owen Donnelly.
The Wolves’ two girls competitors, practice partners Kiara Pierson (110 pounds) and Alma Mendoz (140), each placed for the second time in as many seasons.
Pierson finished fourth, falling to Columbia-Burbank’s Makayla Grimm in the medal rounds for the second straight season. Pierson placed eighth last season as a freshman.
Mendoza was seventh at 140 pounds. She beat Kali Spady of Lynnwood 11-0 in the seventh-place match.
Mendoza finished seventh in the 125-pound class last season.
“They work each other out so hard at practice that getting back here and getting to place again really is a testament to all that hard work,” Sequim coach Charles Drabek said.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 57050 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
