W.F. West's Ely, Matagi Bring Home Titles at Mat Classic

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W.F. West seniors Blake Ely and Daniel Matagi ended two absolutely dominant seasons in dominant fashion, winning state titles at Mat Classic XXXIV at the Tacoma Dome to end their careers in Bearcat singlets. 

Ely, at 145 pounds, started his day with a major-decision win over Orting’s Matthew Gore in the semifinals, going into the third period up 5-3 before earning nine more points in the final period. In the final against Pullman’s Ivan Acosta, the senior led 8-6 in a close bout, before getting the pin to earn his crown.

The win caps off a perfect season for Ely, which saw him go 34-0.

“Blake was on the mission,” W.F. West coach Jamie Rakevich said. “He was that little kid that I met 10 years ago that loved wrestling, he went out there and let it fly the whole season… For him to go out that way, he had his hair on fire and was free and going, it was awesome to see.”

Just about two hours later, Matagi joined Ely at the mountaintop, completing arguably the most dominant weekend at the Dome this year with a win by fall over Enumclaw’s Zeke Luchi in just 49 seconds.

Matagi rolled through his weekend with four pins in four matches — all of which came in the first period. He spent a grand total of 3 minutes, 40 seconds on the mat to take home his first title, after having to settle for third place last season. That win gave W.F. West 132 points as a team — still a distant second to champions Orting, but just ahead of Othello.

“It was huge,” Rakevich said. “I’m so happy for him, it was a huge relief, knowing what happened last year and knowing what should’ve happened. Couldn’t be happier for that to be the end of our season and his season. We were tied for second going into that match, for him to push us ahead of Othello was huge.”

W.F. West also got second-place finishes from Tucker Land at 170, who won his semifinal over Ellensburg’s Logan Stolen before falling to Bremerton’s Thor Michaelson in the finals, and Andrew Penland at 220, who lost by major decision to North Kitsap’s Sofian Hammou.

Damian Hernandez took fourth at 113 for the Bearcats, Waylen Land was fifth at 182 — pinning Ellensburg’s Sean Davis in the fifth-place match — and Cristo Parriott was seventh at 138. 

Centralia’s Antonio Campos dominated his semifinal with a 16-0 technical-fall win over White River’s Caleb Evanger, but lost the title bout at 120 to Orting’s Alan Salguero Jr.

Black Hills freshman Roberto Rivera-Jesus got the Wolves onto the podium with an eighth-place finish at 106.



At the 1B/2B level, Adna led the way with three placers. Cameron Thomas made it to the finals via an injury forfeit against Ilwaco’s Xavier Smith, but fell to Tonasket’s Gerardo Hernandez in the 113-pound finals.  Behind him, Sean Hellem finished sixth at 195, and Jacob Price made it to the fifth-place match, where he would’ve faced Rainier’s Zander Peck, but had to medically forfeit, settling for sixth and giving Peck fifth.

Peck’s teammate in black and orange, Dorien Cano, won his consolation semifinal by fall to start Saturday, but lost to Reardan’s Conner Kline in the third-place match, finishing fourth.

Mossyrock’s Marshall Brockway bounced back from a quarterfinal loss Friday with a first-period pin in the consolation semis, then won his third-place match at 220 over Darrington’s Kade West. Winlock’s Jay Crow finished sixth at 182.

Seven Area Girls Place

Black Hills’ Sloane Kruger got the furthest among the local girls contingent in Tacoma at the very top of the card, finishing second at 100 pounds in the 1B/2B/1A/2A ranks.

Kruger started her day in dominant fashion, pinning Mount Baker’s Ella Moa in the first period of the semifinals, but she faced an uphill battle in the finals against Toppenish’s Mia Zuniga, who came out a 9-2 winner in the championship tilt.

Behind Kruger, four local wrestlers won their way through the consolation bracket. At 110, Centralia’s Jade Hudson pulled out a pin in the third period of her consolation semifinal, then pinned Warden’s Brianalee Martinez in a low-scoring third-place match. 

W.F. West’s Courtney Jones had the Bearcats’ best finish of the day on the girls’ side, earning two second-period pins to finish third at 140.

At 190, Tenino’s Trinity Tafoya had a quick go of it, earning pins to roll to her third-place spot. A slot under her at 235, Rochester’s Emily Weddle fell behind Prosser’s Leslie Gutierrez, but reversed her fortunes decisively with a pin in the second period to win her third-place matchup.

Kaylee Lehman and Lia Hornby both wrapped up the day with fifth-place finishes for W.F. West at 130 and 135, respectively. Lehman won her fifth-place match by the slimmest of margins, earning a point for an escape in the second period and holding on for a 1-0 win. Hornby held a close lead of her own at 4-3 in the second period, before pinning Ephrata’s Leslie Sanchez-Guerrero for the win.