Eight area semifinalists left after opening day of Mat Classic

TACOMA — Through day one of Mat Classic XXXVII at the Tacoma Dome, the dream of repeating as state champion is still alive for two Capital High School boys wrestlers, and a first title is still in play for six other area wrestlers.

Capital sophomore Lazarus McEwen, 113 pounds, and senior Haziel Soto, 126 pounds, are just two wins away from clinching their second state titles after running through their competition Thursday unscathed. 

Two of their teammates, Patrick Halpin, 144 pounds; and Wesley Fox, 157 pounds; also advanced to the semifinals. Timberline 106-pounder Alexander Polk, Olympia 106-pounder Yestin Ruiz, and North Thurston 215-pounder Henry Hovde still have a chance to win a state championship with a pair of wins Friday.

Timberline freshman Annalisa Tapasa stands alone as the only area girl wrestler to make it through to the semifinals, winning all three of her matches in the 190-pound bracket.

Five North Thurston wrestlers — Azumi Calloway, 105 pounds; Rodolfo Medina, 113 pounds; Rylan Tranfiguracion, 120 pounds; Zechariah Egrubay, 126 pounds; and Steven Bligh, 175 pounds; have a chance to earn a medal on Friday. River Ridge 120-pounder Sofia Lie can also pick up hardware with two wins Friday.

Capital boys shining

Through his first eight career matches at the Mat Classic, McEwen has only wrestled in a second period once — in last year’s 106-pound first-place match. The superstar sophomore improved to 75-2 in his prep career by breezing through his first three matches in a combined two minutes and 25 seconds, winning via pin in all three.

Opponents scored a combined three points against McEwen, all via an escape.

Soto’s day, however, was a bit more laborious. After quickly pinning Mountain View’s Angel Reeves in the second round, he ran up the scoreboard against Central Kitsap’s Julio Zendejas in the third round, winning by tech fall 21-1 by three takedowns and four nearfalls. 

But it took until the third period for Soto to score in the third round against Sammamish’s Tai Maeda, and when he did score, he scored in bunches. In just the final two minutes, Soto earned an escape from bottom to tie the match at 1-1 before securing a takedown and two nearfalls, ultimately winning by tech fall.

Halpin, a reigning state runner-up, wrestled three long matches but earned two tech fall victories and a major decision win to sail to the semifinals. Fox is through to the state semis for the first time in his career after winning his three matches handedly. 

Capital has had two state champions in one tournament on two occasions — 2023 and 2001. Coincidentally, the two 2023 champs were related to McEwen as Ezekiel McEwen is his older brother and Maverick McEwen is his cousin, and Patrick Halpin’s uncle Adam was one of the two first-placers in 2001.

North Thurston boys making a statement

The Rams boys are building off of their successful Puget Sound League Tournament and putting up points at the Mat Classic. Hovde, a league champion at 215 pounds, took care of business to start his third state appearance.

In the second round, he secured a pair of takedowns in the first 36 seconds before pinning Federal Way’s Jaron Tucker in the first period. Facing a formidable opponent in the third round in Mountlake Terrace’s Logan Armstrong, Hovde scored two more takedowns in another victory by pin. He added his fifth and sixth takedowns of the day in the quarterfinals against Shadle Park’s Kane Johnson, winning by decision 8-4.

Bligh advanced to the 175-pound quarterfinals in thrilling fashion. After trailing 7-0 through the first period of the third round, he chipped away with an escape and a takedown in the second period. Down 8-7 and in desperation mode late in the third, Bligh couldn’t secure a pin at first against Seattle Academy’s Aitan Plank, who escaped to extend his lead to 9-7 with 25 seconds left. Needing a pin or a takedown to win, Bligh managed to take down Plank with no time left on the clock to clinch the come-from-behind victory. He lost in the quarterfinals by 7-2 decision to Mount Vernon’s Bryson Keller.

Medina bounced back from a second-round loss in the 113-pound bracket to win three straight in the consolation round, including a pair of wins over opponents with similar or better records than him.

Tranfiguracion fell in the third round but earned two victories through the consolation bracket to give himself a chance at a medal on Friday.

Timberline wrestlers blazing through competition

It’s difficult to imagine a better debut campaign than the kind Tapasa is having for Timberline as a freshman. She now stands at 37-4 entering Friday’s action, and the league champion only needed two minutes and 29 seconds to win three matches by pin — the first in just 27 seconds, second in 58 seconds, and the final in 64 seconds. 

If Tapasa wins two matches Friday, she would be the first Timberline girl to ever win a state title.

Polk is also enjoying a strong start to the state tournament, but he turned two close calls into victories in impressive fashion. It took him 58 seconds to pin Shorewood’s Derek Norton in the second round, but he needed a takedown in the final 30 seconds of the third period to break a 1-1 tie and defeat Heritage’s Marco Luna in the third round. In the quarterfinals against Hermiston’s Brayden Harrison, he trailed 7-0 before pinning his opponent in the second period to escape with a win. Polk would be the first Timberline boy to win a state title since Stone Hart in 2013 if he wins two more matches without a loss.

Olympia’s Ruiz hunting for gold

Ruiz is one of the final four remaining in the 4A boys 106-pound bracket. He opened the day with a 43-second pin in the first round, and in the second round, he escaped with a 4-3 decision victory following a comeback attempt by Emerald Ridge’s Kenichi Dominguez late in the match.

Ruiz was dominant throughout the third-round match against Tahoma’s Braxton Baker, winning by tech fall 18-1. 

Ruiz is the only Olympia wrestler who will wrestle on day two and will look to finish his senior season with a 47-7 mark and a state title.