Nathan Patterson, Trevor Newburn and Cameron Loos seemingly have little in common on the wrestling mat.
They tout different schools, different weights and different state tournament pedigrees.
But all three became regional champions Saturday at Hudson’s Bay. All three are headed into next weekend’s Mat Classic with plenty of confidence.
“I’m expecting to win it,” Patterson said.
A senior from Woodland, Patterson won the 145-pound title Saturday at the Class 2A Region III Tournament. In the final, he beat W.F. West’s Michael Matagi 13-8 to become one of three local champions at the event.
Seventeen Clark County wrestlers finished in the top four of their weight classes. They earned tickets to Mat Classic on Friday and Saturday at The Tacoma Dome.
Though Patterson lost both his matches at Mat Classic last year, he’s feeling good about his chances after going undefeated against 2A competition this season.
“Everything has gone smooth this season,” he said. “I’m excited to see what happens at Mat Classic.”
Newburn, a Ridgefield sophomore, knows all about the spectacle that is Mat Classic, where he placed sixth last year.
Newburn’s sights are higher this year as he’s considered a top contender at 113 pounds.
“Experience is important, but it’s just another tournament that I’m trying to win,” Newburn said. “This year it’s really important that I win it.”
Saturday, Newburn was given a tough finals test by Jon McMillian of Hudson’s Bay, who threw him early in the second round. But Newburn turned the tide quickly, opened a lead and won 9-4.
“I knew that when I got out of position and he threw me, I could regain it,” he said.
Loos, a junior from Hockinson, didn’t even wrestle last year. Though he had wrestled since age 4, Loos opted to play basketball for a season.
Now back on the mat, Loos is the regional champion at 220 pounds after defeating Washougal’s Jacob Brown 5-1.
Loos doesn’t think he’ll be behind the curve at Mat Classic.
“The only difference between me and the other athletes there is the mindset,” he said. “I think I have a pretty good mindset to help me prepare.”
Woodland qualified the most wrestlers of any local school with six. In addition to Patterson, Josh Pratt, Kurtis Patterson, Jeff Jackson, Jared Cloud and Isaac Anderson are headed to Tacoma.
Washougal has four qualifiers. In addition to Brown, Zach Oster, AJ Christianson and Ruben Aguilar will be in Mat Classic.
The Panthers finished third in the team competition with 105.5 points. That trailed only W.F. West (174) and Tumwater (165).
Class 3A
Prairie qualified six wrestlers for Mat Classic at the Class 3A Region 4 Tournament at Kelso High School. Three Columbia River wrestlers also qualified for state.
No wrestlers from Clark County won 3A regional titles. Prairie’s Kodi Walls lost in the finals at 126 pounds and Columbia River’s Larry Andersen lost in the finals at 152 pounds.
Joining Walls as state qualifiers from Prairie were Rivers Greensky (106 pounds), Tommy Greensky (113), Talen Goodpaster (126), Peter Mattson (138) and Miguel Avila-Leal (160).
The top four wrestlers at the regional qualified for next weekend’s state championships in the Tacoma Dome.
Joining Andersen as state qualifiers for Columbia River were Connor Thun (138 pounds) and Holt Douglass (285).
North Central of Spokane won the team title. Prairie finished sixth in the team scoring.
Class 4A
Despite not having a regional champion Saturday in Kent, Union qualified a meet-best seven wrestlers to Mat Classic.
The Titans placed second in the team competition behind Tahoma, which won its seventh straight regional title.
Union’s Alex Berfanger was pinned by Kent-Meridian’s Emmanuel Daigbe 4 minutes, 18 seconds into the 182-pound final. It was a rematch of last year’s 170-pound state final, won by Berfanger.
“He was better prepared. He was better mentally prepared. And he might have been in better shape,” Berfanger told the News Tribune. “I think we are going to see each other next week.”
Union’s Michael Snediker, the state’s top-ranked wrestler at 160 pounds, lost 17-2 to Kentlake’s Josh Beckler.
Javier Martinez, another Union finalist, was pinned in 1:07 by Todd Beamer’s Mitchell Owens.
Girls
Five Washougal girls qualified for Mat Classic and the Panthers finished second as a team at the Region 3 Girls Wrestling tournament at Kelso High School.
Washougal junior Yaneli Martinez won the championship at 100 pounds and Panthers sophomore Abby Lees won the 155-pound championship. Martinez pinned Bree Hyder of Hoquiam in the third round of the 100-pound finals. Lees pinned Charliann McCall of Centralia in the 155-pound title match.
Centralia had champions in the three heaviest weight classes to clinch the team title. The Tigers finished with 124 points, 10 more than the second-place Panthers.
The top three wrestlers in each weight class advance to the state tournament at the Tacoma Dome on Friday and Saturday. The other Washougal qualifiers were Jessica Eakins (second at 105 pounds), Baylee Wright (third at 120) and Morgan Ratcliff (third at 135).
At 115 pounds, Sierra Joner of Battle Ground pinned Foster Scott of Skyview in the championship match. At 120, Caitlin Horrocks of Skyview beat Maritza Bravo of Centralia 4-2 in overtime to claim the title. At 130, Regina Bell of White Salmon outscored Skyview’s Natasha Williams 16-14.
Also qualifying for state were Haley Horrocks of Skyview at 155 and Alexis McCafferty of White Salmon at 110.
