TACOMA — Only one thing could stop Capital High School 113-pound wrestler Lazarus McEwen during Mat Classic XXXVII at the Tacoma Dome: a backflip attempt.
Moments after putting the finishing touches on a 28-1 season and his second consecutive state championship Friday night, McEwen took his only stumble of the weekend when he leapt for a backflip but couldn’t quite stick the landing. He tried again and succeeded after shaking the hand of opponent Jackson Mostrom of Liberty (Issaquah) and opposing coaches.
With his 17-1 technical fall victory in the finals, McEwen becomes only the third Capital wrestler to win multiple state championships — joining his older brother Ezekiel and Steve McGettrick.
“It feels good to be a two-time state champion,” Lazarus McEwen said. “I knew I was going to win.”
His opponent in the finals was a familiar one, as Mostrom and McEwen both compete in the Mat Demon Wrestling Club in Kent. McEwen knew Mostrom’s strengths and weaknesses, and he switched up his moves to confuse Mostrom. In the end, the research worked as McEwen piled on points en route to his second career state title.
For the second time in four years, two Capital wrestlers are coming home with a state championship. Along with McEwen, junior Wesley Fox also secured a state championship, with his first-place finish coming in thrilling fashion.
In the 157-pound semifinals against University’s Isaiah Ramirez, Fox was on the brink of losing after taking a 7-2 lead. In the final four seconds, the officials scored a reversal for Ramirez, a four-point nearfall for Ramirez, and an escape for Fox. Without the single point from the escape for Fox, he would have lost by a point, but instead, the match went to an overtime period.
The first overtime went by without a point, and following Ramirez’s escape from bottom in the second overtime, Fox was required to at least match his opponent’s escape in order to continue the bout.
But he didn’t match the escape. Instead, he pulled off a reversal from bottom and scored a three-point nearfall to win the match and advance to the finals. In those finals against White River’s Joshua Hanson, Fox fell behind on the scoreboard early before he took a lead with a third-period takedown that ended up being the difference in the match.
“This is everything. This is a big combination of hard work, my coaching staff, my training partners, and everyone in the room,” Fox said. “I didn’t stop working hard. I’ve been working hard all year. I walked into this match knowing I’m the guy in this state and I’m here to win it all. And I did it.”
Two more Capital Cougars — seniors Patrick Halpin and Haziel Soto — made their return to the state finals. Soto, the reigning 120-pound state champion after winning in the finals as a River Ridge student last year, ran into eventual four-time champion Czar Quintanilla of University and lost by major decision 13-2. In Soto’s four-year prep career, he qualified for state all four years including three straight finals appearances in his last three seasons.
Halpin, who finished second as a junior last year, earned a narrow 5-4 decision over Auburn Mountainview’s Sam DeHan in the 144-pound semifinals before being shut out 8-0 in a major decision loss in the finals to Hermiston’s Jacoby Rodriguez. Halpin finishes his career with three state podium appearances, including a fifth-place medal in 2024 and two straight runner-up finishes.
Capital finished sixth as a team in the boys 3A standings with 150.5 points.
North Thurston’s Henry Hovde was the other area finalist and became the first Ram to earn a Mat Classic medal since Aidan Anderson won a state title in 2023. Hovde was down 4-0 late in the second period in the semifinals against Meadowdale’s Jamier Perry before he notched a takedown in the final 10 seconds of the frame. He tied the match with an escape from bottom to start the third before he racked up the points, including via a takedown and a four-point nearfall in the last 20 seconds to win by major decision.
In the finals against Mount Spokane’s Brendan Hughes, Hovde was taken down early and pinned in 76 seconds to finish second at state. Hovde didn’t place in his first two state appearances but finished his prep career with a second-place medal.
Also around the area, North Thurston senior Steven Bligh took fifth in the 175-pound bracket, bouncing back from losses in the quarterfinals and the consolation semifinals to win by decision in the fifth-place match. For the first time in 23 years, North Thurston saw multiple medalists at the Mat Classic, and the Rams finished 14th as a team with 103 points.
Olympia senior Yestin Ruiz earned his second-straight state medal, improving from last year’s fifth-place finish with a fourth-place medal in the 4A 106-pound bracket. He advanced to the semifinals before losing by a 17-0 tech fall to Gonzaga Prep’s Karver Peasley. After winning in the consolation semis, Ruiz fell short in a close 4-2 decision to Tahoma’s Braxton Baker in the third-place match.
Timberline sophomore Alexander Polk took home hardware in the 3A 106-pound division, earning sixth place. He earned a spot in the semifinals before falling in three straight matches by decision to finish sixth.
For the girls, Timberline freshman Annalisa Tapasa capped off an impressive debut campaign with a third-place medal in the 190-pound bracket. She bounced back from a semifinal loss to eventual state champion Corrie Collins by winning by pin in the consolation semis, and she did what she does best in the third-place match: triumphing rapidly. Tapasa pinned Sedro-Woolley’s Ryan Madsen in 22 seconds to take third and end her season on a winning note.
“It means so much. I’m so incredibly grateful to everyone who has been here for me, especially my coaches,” Tapasa said. “At the end of the day, what happens here really doesn’t define me. I just treated it as another tournament. I really wanted to fight to get as high as I could go. After losing in the semis, I had to collect myself. I already felt the worst that could have happened, and I had nothing more to lose.”
The last time River Ridge’s Sofia Lie was on the Mat Classic stage, she had to medically forfeit in the second round of the consolation tournament due to a broken ankle. Recovery took six months, and she was determined this season to finish the season healthy and on the podium, and she did just that.
Lie, a junior in the 120-pound division, surprised even herself with a fifth-place medal and a 5-2 record in the Tacoma Dome.
“Last year, I expected to place, but I had to medically forfeit. It means a whole lot more this year, especially being seeded where I wasn’t expected to place,” Lie said. “I know that I’m with the best of the best. I’ll take that to heart and use that to get stronger next season and hopefully be higher on the podium.”
North Thurston junior Azumi Calloway placed eighth in the girls 3A 105-pound bracket, winning four matches to secure her first state medal.
