Sports
Bellevue Wrestlers Struggle At Mat Classic; Trull Has Shot At Third
Despite the team's struggles at the Tacoma Dome, leaving the Wolverines in 33rd place, Bellevue wrestler Jimmy Trull finshed third in his division.
Update: Jimmy Trull of Bellevue finished third in the 215-pound division at the WIAA Mat Classic. Click here to read the Bellevue Patch wrap-up of the Mat Classic results.
Original story:
Bellevue suffered through a brutal first-round of the Mat Classic at the Tacoma Dome and has just one wrestler left in contention for a place at the state tournament.
Ben Matteucci, Andy Ewing, Jun Park and each lost their first round matches and only Trull remains in the consolation bracket and still has a chance to finish as high as third.
As a team, Bellevue is currently in 33rd place.
Enumclaw, on the other hand, took care of business on the first day of the Mat Classic and looks primed to make a run at its third state title in four years.
The Enumclaw Hornets emerged as the big winners of the day, advancing seven wrestlers past the first round and three into the semifinals, to give the green hornets a 66-57.5 lead in the team rankings over second-place University.
Enumclaw’s only real set-back came when defending state champion Hunter File was shocked in the 130-pound quarterfinals by Josh St. Marie of Glacier Peak, dropping File into the losers bracket and ensuring that he will finish no higher than third the year after winning it all.
Still, Enumclaw was confident of their chances to win the overall title.
“We almost feel like we got it in the sack,” Kario Wallin, who qualified for the semifinals at 160 pounds, said of the team title. “It’s meant to be, everything’s going together so well.”
Mercer Island was a surprise first-round success, as the Islanders put five wrestlers into the second round. But the Islanders luck ran out in the face of a tough round of match-ups and Mercer Island had to settle for ninth place after day one.
University, Sunnyside and Kelso all placed in the top 5 of team rankings, as expected, along with Yelm. University and Enumclaw entered the tournament as the favorites, while Sunnyside and Kelso were expected to compete.
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