Leach Dominant So Far to Lead Shorewood at Mat Classic

Led by senior, Brandon Leach, Shorewood was 19^th after the first day of the Mat Classic at the Tacoma Dome.

Shorewood has two wrestlers left in the competition – out of five to start the day – including Leach who has dominated the competition in the 119-pound division thus far in the tournament.

Leach has had two matches, but neither has presented much of a match to Leach. Leach has pinned both opponents in under a minute, taking just 1:10 total to win both.

Matthew Floresca is still alive in the lower bracket, fighting for a chance to finish as high as third. Floresca won his first match, but lost his second before rebounding with a win in his final match.

Kyle Floresca (135) and Joel Smith (189) were both knocked out of competition in their final matches on Friday after splitting their first two matches.

Alex Lee (103 pounds) suffered an injury defeat in his first match and was pinned in his second to end his time at the Mat Classic.

Shorecrest entered just one wrestler into the event and he is still alive. Drew Arbanasin (152) split his first two matches before winning his third to keep his hopes for a third place finish alive.

Enumclaw leads all 3A teams, after taking care of business on the first day of the Mat Classic and looks primed to make a run at its third state title in four years.

The Hornets emerged as the big winners of the day, advancing seven wrestlers past the first round and three into the semifinals, to give Enumclaw a 66-57.5 lead in the team rankings over second-place University.

Enumclaw’s only real set-back came when defending state champion Hunter File was shocked in the 130-pound quarterfinals by Josh St. Marie of Glacier Peak, dropping File into the losers bracket and ensuring that he will finish no higher than third the year after winning it all.

Still, Enumclaw was confident of their chances to win the overall title.

“We almost feel like we got it in the sack,” Kario Wallin, who qualified for the semifinals at 160 pounds, said of the team title. “It’s meant to be, everything’s going together so well.”

Mercer Island was a surprise first-round success, as the Islanders put five wrestlers into the second round. But the Islanders luck ran out in the face of a tough round of match-ups and Mercer Island had to settle for ninth place after day one.

University, Sunnyside and Kelso all placed in the top 5 of team rankings, as expected, along with Yelm. University and Enumclaw entered the tournament as the favorites, while Sunnyside and Kelso were expected to compete.