Ferndale finishes top 10 after Mat Classic’s day 1
The Golden Eagles at the beginning of the year, coach Caleb Schlack said, made the goal of cracking the Mat Classic’s Big Board, featuring the top-10 teams at each classification.
Well after day one of state wrestling Ferndale has put itself in great position to do just that, finishing tied for ninth place
All seven Golden Eagles who wrestled Friday won at least one match, and Eli Croy (126 pounds), Noah Saenz (145), Braiden Klimp (160), Ben Broselle (182) and Sam Cleary (195) won two Friday, Feb. 19, at the Tacoma Dome and will be wrestling during Saturday’s medal rounds.
“I’m pretty excited with how we did,” Schlack said. “It was one of my goals to make it in the top 10 this year and get on the big board. We haven’t done that since my first year here.”
Broselle and Cleary provided the day’s biggest highlights. The duo won their opening and quarterfinal matches, setting themselves up with one win between them and a shot at wrestling for a state title.
Broselle pinned Lakeside’s Ny’il Damis-Salaam in 1 minute, 5 seconds before pinning Sumner’s Josiah Schliesman in 4:17. Schlack said the junior has a great shot to reach the finals Saturday, and Broselle will be looking for redemption after reaching the semis last year before suffering a heartbreaking defeat.
Cleary earned a 7-3 decision over Sumner’s Luca Leonhard before beating Cheif Seath’s Daron Camacho 4-3 in the quarters.
“Sam never quit,” Schlack said. “He wrestled a kid he lost to twice last yer, and just wrestled a smart match and took away his offense.”
Croy offered another great story, battling back from an opening-round loss with a 14-1 decision and a 9-4 decision to guarantee himself a medal.
“Our record doesn’t always look good, but when we come here we wrestle better, and it’s really evident with our kids,” Schlack said.
Broselle’s is slated to face Stanwood’s Arie Vanveen in the semis at 11:40 a.m., and Cleary will wrestle Kennedy Catholic’s Bowen McConville at 11:50 a.m.
Class 3A
126 POUNDS | School | Round | Opponent (School) | Results |
Eli Croy | Ferndale | First Cons. Cons. | Alex Hoover (Mount Spokane) Zeyab Nasir (Nathan Hale) Yahya Mirzaei (Auburn Mountainview) | L pin (0:50) W 14-1 W 9-4 |
145 POUNDS | School | Round | Opponent (School) | Results |
Noah Saenz | Ferndale | First Quarter. Cons. | Cameron Bowerman (North Central) Avery Meyer (Bonney Lake) Zachuriah Aketch (Oak Harbor) | W pin (0:44) L pin (3:37) W 12-1 |
160 POUNDS | School | Round | Opponent (School) | Results |
Braiden Klimp | Ferndale | First Quarter. Cons. | Jarett Bishop (Auburn) Morgan Ruegsegger (Mount Spokane) Seth Earl (Central Kitsap) | W 9-1 L 10-2 W pin (5:02) |
170 POUNDS | School | Round | Opponent (School) | Results |
Taylor Bellefeuille | Ferndale | First Cons. Cons. | Zayid Al-Ghani (Southridge) Hague Bush (Bainbridge) Cole Washburn (Auburn) | L 12-5 W 8-0 L 1-0 |
182 POUNDS | School | Round | Opponent (School) | Results |
Ben Broselle | Ferndale | First Quarter. | Ny’il Damis-Salaam (Lakeside) Josiah Schliesman (Sumner) | W pin (1:05) W pin (4:17) |
195 POUNDS | School | Round | Opponent (School) | Results |
Sam Cleary | Ferndale | First Quarter. | Luca Leonhard (Sumner) Daron Camacho (Chief Sealth) | W 7-3 W 4-3 |
220 POUNDS | School | Round | Opponent (School) | Results |
Nate Slaton | Ferndale | First Cons. Cons. | Timo Harter-Lupesoliai (Rogers) Montique Edwards (O’Dea) Ilai Wilson (Mountlake Terrace) | L pin (5:48) W 5-0 L pin (3:45) |
WIAA.com
This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 10:40 AM with the headline "Ferndale finishes top 10 after Mat Classic’s day 1."