MAT CLASSIC XX FINALIST: Katie Newgard, Mount Baker

CRAIG PARRISH

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TACOMA — By any standard, Mount Baker senior Katie Newgard had a special weekend at Mat Classic XX. Her opponent in the girls’ 130-pound final, however, had no intention of letting Newgard out of the Tacoma Dome with a first-place medal.

LaCenter senior Christina Cox, one of the most impressive athletes in the building, seized control early and pinned Newgard in two minutes, 25 seconds to earn her second consecutive state championship.

In the final, Cox moved quickly, aggressively and effectively, earning near-fall points and reversals in rapid succession. Newgard managed two points in the first period, but she was in an 11-2 hole after the first two minutes, and Cox got the pin early in the second period.

| DANNY GAWLOWSKI THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

“I knew it was going to be (Cox) in the finals,” said Newgard, who was sporting an alarmingly purple ring under her right eye, courtesy of a knee from Yelm’s Cassie Virgil, her semifinal opponent. “I was ready for the head-and-arm, but I slipped right into it.”

Newgard earned her second state medal; she finished fourth at 125 pounds a year ago.

“I was proud of her, the way she competed,” Mount Baker coach Ron Lepper said. “She gave herself an opportunity to score a couple of points, got some, and got kind of close on a couple other ones.”

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