TACOMA — It wasn’t always the storybook ending they had imagined, but three Grays Harbor wrestlers ended their high school careers on top of the podium as state champions at the Mat Classic on Saturday.
Montesano’s Austin Cain (160), Taylor Rupe (285) and North Beach’s Seth Bridge (285) ended their senior wrestling seasons with state titles at the Tacoma Dome.
Bridge’s title bout ended with an injury. Toledo’s Dalton Yoder defaulted the 1B/2B 285-pound final to Bridge after Yoder’s knee was injured.
Yoder entered the match a heavy favorite, having beaten Bridge earlier in the season. However, Bridge battled through the first period tied 0-0. In the second period, Yoder was leading 1-0 when he tied up with Bridge. The Hyak grappler reached to take control of Yoder’s leg and when he pulled a loud pop sound was followed by Yoder’s screams and cries of knee pain. Yoder tried to continue the match and battled for about forty more seconds, but, after a reversal by Bridge, he eventually conceded the bout.
“I wish I could have won by points, but I’m very glad that I won,” Bridge said. “I can’t believe it yet, it hasn’t sunk in. I’ll figure it out tomorrow. A lot of (my success this weekend) was going back to what I knew. Back to the basics of what I did well. Coach (Mike) Weidman was there talking me through strategy every single match. (The strategy) was wrestle in bursts of six seconds and go for the single leg, just wrestle my heart out.”
Both Bridge and Cain came up with pins to earn their way into the finals, Bridge beat Inchelium’s Cody Perryman in 3:01 and Cain pinned Stevenson’s Jesse Hoffberger in 1:23, while Rupe dominated Kiona-Benton’s Anthony Llernas 11-4 for a semifinal win
After becoming the first Montesano wrestler to win a title in forty years when he captured the 152-pound crown at the 1A tournament last year, Cain became the first Bulldog to win back-to-back titles with a victory in the 160-pound final Saturday. Cain won an 8-3 decision over Colville’s Thailer Morrison in the final with the least controversy of the trio of champions.
Around three hours later, Rupe became the second back-to-back champion Bulldog and only the fifth Montesano wrestler to place at state four straight years when he was awarded the 285-pound 1A title. Rupe received a forfeit by Connell’s Alexander Deines when the Monte senior suffered a concussion.
With two title winners, Montesano finished fifth as a team with 105 1/2 points, just a half point over Forks. Granger won the state team title with 198 points.
