Two T-Birds, One Scot Place at Mat Classic

Two Shorewood wrestlers placed on the final day of the Mat Classic state wrestling championships at the Tacoma Dome on Saturday.

Brandon Leach finished fifth in the 119-pound division, while Matthew Floresca finished seventh in the 112-pound division.

Leach had enjoyed a dominating first day that featured two quick pins that sent him to the semifinal round. But Leach stumbled against Riley Miller of Kelso in the semis and again to Jesse Lopez in the consolation bracket. Both losses were on points. Leach rebounded to pin Rad Krysa of Decatur in the 5/6 match-up.

Shorecrest was represented by Drew Arbanasin (152), who placed as the only Shorecrest wrestler who qualified for the event. Arbanasin finished seventh in his weight class.

Enumclaw pulled out the 3A team title in dramatic fashion, taking home the top team spot for the third time in four years.

A year after losing out on the team title in its final two matches of the tournament, the Hornets were anchored by the two wrestlers who came up just short last year.

Josh Musick and Kario Wallin each won titles the year after finishing second in their weight classes. Musick’s loss last year knocked Enumclaw out of team title contention, a fact that he said stayed with him for nearly a year since.

“It stayed with me for about a year,” Musick said of the loss. “Until I watched the video of that finals.”

Aided by a desire to avoid the frustration of 2010, Musick pulled out a 6-2 victory over Hamilton Noel of Liberty (Issaquah). The win came after sophomore Lucas Somera got things started for Enumclaw with a title in the 135-pound weight division. Musick’s victory assured at least a share of the team title for Enumclaw and Wallin locked it up for the hornets, pinning Connor Boyce 1:29 into the second period.

“They’ve worked hard all season long,” coach Lee Reichert said. “I put them through the toughest schedule I could put them through and they just continued to get better. I’m so proud of these guys.

University finished second in the 3A division with 129.5 points after playing catch-up to Enumclaw since the start of the tournament.  The Titans had a shot at the team title heading into the championship round, but Enumclaw’s champions made sure University never got any closer than second.

Kelso was a distant third with 100.5 points, followed by Yelm with 95 points and North Central with 82 points.