When Matt Casimes stared across the mat at his opponent during the 112-pound title bout at Saturday’s 3A Region I Championships, he didn’t see West Seattle’s Louis Wright.
He saw burritos.
“[Teammate] Erik Ovens and I have a bet,” Casimes explained minutes after pinning Wright in 3:14. “Whoever gets the most pins this season buys the other Chipotle. And we all know Chipotle is really good, so I was just trying to add another one.”
Mission accomplished.
Casimes’ cradle pin of Wright made him one of Bellevue’s four regional champions as the Wolverines qualified seven wrestlers for next Saturday’s Mat Classic at the Tacoma Dome.
Bellevue found tremendous success Saturday at Liberty High School, as every returner to the regional meet from last year either stayed the same place or improved on their previous finishes.
Ovens, like Casimes, repeated as regional champion with a hard-fought 6-5 victory over Mercer Island sophomore Phil Frazier. Frazer led 2-1 after the first period but Ovens took the 6-5 lead into the final period and held on for the title.
“I was able to beat him out with conditioning,” Ovens said. “I knew I’d beat him out in the end. I know I have the conditioning to go 100 miles an hour all day long.”
Bellevue junior Josh Spiezle won the 125-pound title, winning all three matches by decision, including the championship match, a 7-4 defeat of Mercer Island’s Kyle Shanafelt.
One of the biggest wins of the night belonged to Bellevue sophomore Jimmy Trull, who bested Mercer Island’s TJ Blackburn 3-1 in the 215-pound title bout. Trull lost to Blackburn just a week ago in the title match of the KingCo Championships.
“Before last week, I hadn’t wrestled him since December,” Trull said. “He was fresh in my mind, where he was at and what he does. I didn’t want to lose.”
Bellevue junior Jun Park lost to Mercer Island senior James Kashima 10-5 in the 130-pound championship. It will be the first trip to state for Park, whose brother Jin Park will join him after his third-place finish in the 285-pound class.
“My brother deserves it,” Jin Park said, shortly before his brother’s title bout. “He actually worked harder than I did. I’m happy we were able to make it through.”
Senior Will Fields rounds out the Wolverines state participants. Fields finished third in the 189-pound class. Colin Small, a sophomore at Bellevue, will be a state alternate in the 140-pound class after finishing fifth.
The Wolverines finished third as a team at the event. Mercer Island took the team title.
Sammamish’s lone regional participant, sophomore Sean Sandhu, finished sixth in 103.
Bellevue’s seven state participants is one less than last season, but Ovens said he, and the other Wolverines, are more experienced this year and ready for the spotlight of the state meet.
“Last year, I let the whole atmosphere get to me, the lights and everything,” he said. “We’ve been there before now.”
Wolverines coach Tom Ovens said he hopes to see his team set a little history this Saturday.
“We’re trying to achieve multiple medals for the first time since 1977,” he said. “We’re excited for our guys.”
4A Region II Tournament
Newport’s Shawn Weisenburgh and Kevin McCanta finished in second place in their classes as the Knights finished ninth as a team at Todd Beamer High School.
Weisenburgh was defeated 6-0 by Graham-Kapowsin’s Cameron Stickell in the 145-pound championship. Graham-Kapowsin took the team title with 221 points.
McCanta lost 18-13 in overtime to Dylan Aparis of Decatur in the 152-pound title bout.
2A Region II Tournament
Interlake’s Feyman Liang defeated teammate Jake Wilson 5-3 in the 135-pound championship bout to headline the Saints night at the 2A Region II Tournament at Washington High School.
Christian Schultz pinned Washington’s Rene Alvarez in 2:58 to qualify for state in the third/fourth place match in the 145-pound class. Teammate Andy Agus also qualified for state by defeating Steilacoom’s Jake McCane 6-4in the third/fourth place match of the 189-pound class.
The top-three placers in each weight class qualified for the Mat Classic. Interlake’s Alex Giesburt came up just short, finishing fourth and losing to Eatonville’s Garret Mann 6-1 in the 160-pound class.
