Class 4A wrestling: Lake Stevens makes leap

TACOMA — His smile lit up the Tacoma Dome. His back flip brought a roar of approval.

Lester Brown brought some fun to the Class 4A state wrestling tournament last night and provided an exclamation point to Lake Stevens' team championship.

Like the Vikings, Brown came into Mat Classic as an underdog and went out on top. He beat Cory Vombaur from Evergreen of Vancouver, 3-0, for the 125-pound title. All season, talk had been about the anticipated battle between Vombaur and Kamiakin's Mike Rodriguez, a two-time champion.

Brown, a junior, didn't listen.

"Talk is talk," he said. "Actions speak louder than words."

The Vikings' actions spoke volumes yesterday as they wrapped up the team title early, building a 32-1/2-point over favored Heritage of Vancouver heading into the title bouts. Lake Stevens landed four in the finals, Heritage two.

Lake Stevens senior Tony Kubec joined Brown atop the podium, beating Auburn Riverside's Tyler Roshau 11-4 in the 130-pound final, while Matt Leonard (215) and Clint Osborn (275) added second-place finishes for the Vikings.

Lake Stevens wound up with 124-1/2 points, Heritage 88. Battle Ground (74-1/2) was third and Rogers of Puyallup (68) fourth.

"It's really nice being able to come in and pretty much blow everyone out of the water," Kubec said.

Especially with Heritage a heavy favorite all season to defend its title.

"It's real satisfying," Lake Stevens coach Brent Barnes said. "I don't think two months ago, if you'd asked anyone, they thought anyone could beat Heritage."

It was the Vikings' first championship since jumping to Class 4A in 2002, the year after they won back-to-back 3A titles, and the school's fourth crown overall. Heritage was trying to become the first team in the big-school classification to win back-to-back titles since Kentwood completed a three-peat in 1992.

"I've been where they're at ... and that's a lot of pressure on kids when you have to repeat a state championship," Barnes said. "There's something said about being hungry. It's easier being the hunter rather than the hunted, and we were definitely the hunter."

It was one of the most balanced state tournaments in history. Lake Stevens and Heritage were the lone schools with more than one wrestler in the finals. The others in the championship matches represented 22 different schools.

Inglemoor junior Mikey Sewell (152) and Decatur senior Kyle Bressler (189) both became two-times champions. Sewell beat Spanaway Lake's Brent Stover 7-5 in overtime, and said this title is sweeter because he wore a target all season. After watching Brown celebrate his victory with a back flip, Sewell opted for a high heel click.

"I'm definitely going to be back and defend another one," he said.

Bressler, who had wrestled cautiously most of the tournament, listened to his father/coach Mike Bressler and "let it go" in his title bout with Brynson Brown of Emerald Ridge, winning 11-4 to cap an unbeaten season. It was the fourth meeting of the season between the two.

"No one knows how hard it is to repeat unless you've experienced it," Mike Bressler said.

And he has done just that, winning back-to-back titles for Evergreen of Seattle in 1974 and '75.

Moses Lake junior Anthony Vela (112) and Kamiakin senior Tyler Sherfey (145) repeated as champions as well. Vela beat Cascade sophomore Jonny Gilbertson 8-2.

Enumclaw senior Jake Gonzales, second at 112 last year, climbed to the top at 119.

Justin Davidson became only the second wrestler in Bothell history to take home a title — and the first to finish undefeated — as he beat Kentwood's Grant Nakashima 10-5 for the 130-pound title. It was a satisfying trip to the top after he finished second as a sophomore and third last year.

"I can't believe it," Davidson said.

Mike Johnson of Tahoma, second at 145 as a sophomore last season, capped an unbeaten season by defeating Brent Chiswell of South Kitsap in the 160-pound final, 4-1.

Notes

• Ron Siebel closed a spectacular career as Moses Lake coach. He is retiring after 28 seasons at the high school and 35 overall. He is responsible for nine of the Chiefs' state-leading 17 team championships. Vela was Siebel's 26th individual champion and the school's 57th overall. The Chiefs placed fifth.

• Senior Scott LaBrash of Bothell, the runner-up at 189 last season who lost his first match on Friday, came back to take seventh. Teammate Steve Sewell, also a senior, failed to make weight at 125 yesterday, had to forfeit his two remaining matches and did not receive the eighth-place medal.

• Ryan Paulson of Auburn Riverside, who reached the 145-pound semifinals with a 33-0 record, lost his final three matches to finish sixth.

• The first girls invitational, held in conjunction with Mat Classic, drew 68 wrestlers from 48 schools. The girls were divided by size into 17 groups of four. Each wrestled the other three in her group to determine the champion. Among the outright winners were sophomore Molly Reardon of West Seattle and junior Jean Laschever of Mercer Island.