TACOMA — The Chiawana wrestling program had a new coach this season but a familiar result.
Manny Plata took over the program and continued the Riverhawks’ recent dominance, leading the Chiawana boys to their fourth consecutive Class 4A team title at Mat Classic XXXIV Saturday afternoon at the Tacoma Dome.
The three-time defending state champions from Pasco broke a tie with Kentwood (1989-92) and Lake Stevens (2006-09) and became the first largest-school classification program in state history to win four consecutive team titles in the modern Mat Classic era.
“I honestly don’t have words to describe how I feel,” Plata said. “We had one mission and we got it accomplished. These boys put in the work. What Jack (Anderson) had built, I came in and my goal was just to keep the standard — keep the tradition going.”
The Riverhawks were led by senior Isaiah Medina, who won an individual title at 113 pounds, and sophomore Daeton Johnson, who took home the 126-pound championship.
South Kitsap (130) and Sumner (127) pushed Chiawana and made things interesting, but the Riverhawks held on in the championship bouts. Tahoma (121.5) and Sunnyside (116) rounded out the top five teams in the Class 4A tournament.
With a young, hungry team, Plata hopes it’s not the end of the run for the Riverhawks.
“I don’t want to get overconfident,” Plata said. “… But if we continue to work and do what we’re doing, we could be standing on top once again next year and in the years to come. Obviously, that’s the goal, that’s the standard.”
Brotherly love
Bremerton’s Michaelson family also had a lot to celebrate at this year’s Mat Classic. Senior Thor Michaelson (170 pounds) and junior Lars Michaelson (182 pounds) won their respective weight classes for the second consecutive year. Thor, a Stanford signee, pinned his opponent early in the second period of his title bout. He took first last year at 160 pounds.
In the ensuing championship, Lars — the defending 170-pound champion — quickly pinned his opponent in 40 seconds to ensure a happy night at the Michaelson house.
“It’s easy to win after your brother because everyone’s super excited — you’re excited. It feels great,” Lars said. “… My brother always pushing me. It’s always easy when you have a big brother that drags you along and forces you to be good.”
“I love getting to wrestle him every day,” said Thor, the elder Michaelson. “Wrestling alongside him is probably my favorite thing about this sport. Getting to succeed — and lose — alongside him is a pleasure to get to go through the road with him. … Without him, I wouldn’t be standing here with two state titles.”
In addition to the Michaelsons, the Quinanillas from University (Spokane Valley) also had a fun family night. Senior Q’veli Quinanilla, one of the most decorated wrestlers in the state, capped his high-school career with his third consecutive Class 3A title at 145 pounds. The former Junior Nationals Greco-Roman champion handled his opponent in the first period.
Q’veli’s younger brother, freshman Czar Quinanilla, began following in his brother’s footsteps with a pin to clinch the Class 3A 106-pound title match over Carlos Cervantes of Hermiston (Oregon). Together, the Quinanilla brothers helped lead University to a fifth-place finish in the 3A team standings.
Kennedy Catholic’s Collins wins state … twice
Mathias Collins heard the whistle and made a beeline for his coach’s arms.
As Collins and his coach Bobby Brokenshire hugged and celebrated, they soon noticed the officials huddled together. After a discussion that lasted for several minutes, they informed the mat they were assessing a technical violation to Collins for darting off the mat. That violation tied the score with his opponent, Devan Carter from Graham-Kapowsin, at 2-2 and forced overtime.
In the second overtime period, Collins was able to get Carter to the mat for a point and the Class 4A title at 160 pounds.
“At first I was a little confused, I was like, ‘What’s going on?’” Collins said. “As I saw the refs talking for a while I knew, ‘All right, we’ve got to get back to work. Let’s go. I’ve got to get this again.’”
Collins lost by one point last year in the 152-pound title bout and was determined not to let that happen again. He became the fourth individual state champion in the history of the Kennedy Catholic program.
“I’m more proud (of Collins) than you can imagine,” Brokenshire said. “He worked so hard and he earned it. He earned it twice. And to see him come through like he did, that’s a testament to who he is.”
Toppenish dominance
The Toppenish boys continued their recent dominance, running away with the Class 1A team title. The Wildcats defended their 1A title after winning Class 2A titles in 2019 and 2020. They had nine wrestlers take home individual titles.
Steve Romero (106), Adan Estrada (113), Justyce Zuniga (126), Marcos Torrez (138), Kiyanno Zuniga (145), Jeremiah Zuniga (152), Josh Luna (195), Darrell Leslie (220) and Anthony Nava (285) all finished atop the podium for Toppenish.
The Wildcats, who finished with 375 points, went 22-1 in the early session on Saturday, with the lone loss a bout featuring two Toppenish wrestlers. The Wildcats had wrestlers in 12 of a possible 14 weight-class finals as Toppenish cruised to the title over Mount Baker (99) and Omak (86.5).
The Toppenish girls also finished way out in front in the Girls 2A/1A/2B/1B tournament. The Wildcats girls team finished with 299 total points. The girls state wrestling tournament was split into two divisions for the first time at this year’s Mat Classic.