Auburn and Auburn Mountainview battled to top-10 team finishes at this past weekend’s Mat Classic XXVIII state 3A wrestling championships at the Tacoma Dome.
The Trojans, keyed by state title winners Sam Lindsey at 182 pounds and Mario Luevano at 220, earned a fifth-place finish with 78 points.
Lindsey, a senior who placed sixth at 195 pounds last year, had no trouble working his way through the 182-pound bracket this year, knocking off Kennewick sophomore Ronny Loomis with a fall at 1 minute, 3 seconds in the first round, and blasting Stanwood senior Anthony Ortega 9-1 in the second round.
In the quarterfinals, Lindsey powered past Shadle Park senior Kyle Vinson 8-1, setting up the title match with a South Puget Sound League 3A foe, Peninsula’s Luke Holsinger.
“It feels pretty good (getting to the finals), though, but you can’t think of it like that,” Lindsey said. “It’s just another match. At this point, I’m just kind of wrestling so I can win, and the ref can’t beat me.”
In the title match, Lindsay squeezed out a 2-0 victory to take home the state title.
Also snagging gold for the Trojans was senior heavyweight Luevano, who beat Meadowdale senior Tim Smith 2-1 in a thrilling triple-overtime final match.
“It feels amazing, the hard work paid off,” Luevano said.
Luevano, who missed out on last year’s Mat Classic, owing to an injury suffered at the regional meet, powered his way to the finals match with an opening match 5-3 win over Alec Boyd of Mount Spokane, and a second-round pin of Ballard’s Brandon Scott. In the quarterfinal match, Luevano outlasted Rogers of Spokane’s Markus Robinson 3-2.
Also placing for Auburn was senior Jacob Apodaca, who finished third at 285 pounds with a 5-2 decision over Kamiakin’s Nick Little in the title match.
Sophomore Drew Aplin fought his way to a seventh-place finish at 120 pounds, beating SPSL 3A rival Levi Norton from Enumclaw 4-0 in the seventh-eighth place match.
Senior Balteer Rana rounded out Auburn placers with an eighth place at 126 pounds.
Auburn Mountainview eked out a top-10 team placing with a seventh-place, 76-point performance.
Third-place finishes from juniors Dylan Foley and Antonio Correa led the way for the Lions.
Foley grabbed third at 132 pounds, besting Prairie’s Kodi Walls 6-3. Correa pinned Lincoln’s Will Willsey at the 1:17 mark to take home the bronze at 220 pounds.
Also placing for Auburn Mountainview were junior Joey Santos, who was sixth at 138, and sophomore Yayha Mirzaei, who finished fourth at 120.
Mirzaei battled his way to the quarterfinals before losing 3-2 to Mount Spokane’s Alec Hoover, the eventual state champion.
“I went three overtimes with him,” Mirzaei said. “Next time I think I can beat him, but this time I lost and had to wrestle for third place.”
Mirzaei fell 9-0 to Enumclaw freshman Quinton Southcott in the match for third-fourth place.
Enumclaw came out on top in the 3A team competition with 110 points.
Five SPSL 3A teams finished in the top 10 of the state 3A competition, including Auburn, Auburn Mountainview, Peninsula, Enumclaw and Bonney Lake.
ALSO: In the girls competition, Auburn Riverside senior Jessica Packer was eighth at 145 pounds. After losing her opening-round match, Packer fought her way through the consolation bracket with two wins, including a 2-1 quadruple-overtime decision against Mount Vernon’s Dajah Mendiola.
