Colton Marlowe broke his finger in December. The injury, however, didn’t break Marlowe’s wrestling season.
Instead, Kentlake’s 130-pound standout junior pushed on — wrapping up the broken digit with athletic tape for competition — with a single goal in mind. That goal wasn’t only a state-tournament berth, but a high placing at this weekend’s Mat Classic XXIII at the Tacoma Dome.
Marlowe took one more step closer toward achieving his goal last weekend, winning the 130-pound title at the Class 4A Region III tournament at Shelton High.
“My goal now is to take at least top three,” said Marlowe, who advanced to state last year, but was bounced after three matches. “I am gunning for it this year. I think I can do good as long as I stay focused and stay in good position.”
One person helping Marlowe remain focused is teammate Sean Farr, a 130-pounder who was nearly as good at the Region III tournament. Marlowe outlasted Farr 8-7 for the championship last weekend. It was the second week in a row the two squared off with a weight-class title in the balance.
“I just go out there and wrestle him like it’s another opponent,” said Marlowe, who has a 29-7 overall record. “I was glad to see him. It’s cool that we met at the sub-district and regionals.”
When Mat Classic XXIII begins this weekend, the longtime friends and teammates will find each other on opposite ends of the bracket. As such, Farr and Marlowe could meet for the state championship. No Kentlake wrestler has ever won a state title.
“They are very close in ability levels,” said Kentlake coach Jeremy Williams. “It honestly wouldn’t surprise me that much if either one of them made the finals at state. If either one has a great weekend of wrestling, they are both very capable.”
The same could be said for a slew of South Puget Sound League North Division wrestlers this weekend. Once again, Tahoma rolled to the team title at regionals, which pitted the Narrows League against the SPSL North. Tahoma collected 229 points, well ahead of second-place South Kitsap at 146. Kentwood rounded out the top three with 99 points followed by fourth-place Auburn (98), fifth-place Kentlake (80) and sixth-place Kentridge (74). Kent-Meridian, the last of the local teams competing at the 17-team tournament, took eighth with 51 points.
Tahoma advanced a tournament-high 11 wrestlers to Mat Classic XXIII. Four of those — Steven Hopkins (119), Jesse Vaughn (125), Dan Haniger (135) and Matt Hopkins (160) — won titles. The Bears set the tone for the SPSL North, which earned 37 of the possible 56 berths to state. The top four wrestlers in each weight class advance to state.
Overall, the North bagged 12 champions in the 14 weight classes.
“You could tell right away that the North was doing pretty good,” said Kentwood coach Ken Sroka.
The Conquerors advanced six wrestlers to this weekend’s tournament, led by three-time state medalist Ruben Navejas, who improved to 38-0 after securing the 112-pound title. Navejas won the 103-pound state title as a sophomore and took second last year. Of Kentwood’s six state participants, Daniel Park at 215 pounds is unquestionably the biggest surprise. Park was an alternate to the regional tournament after taking fifth at sub-districts, but suited up after another wrestler was unavailable to compete.
The Kentwood senior made the most of his golden opportunity, too, taking third.
“We were kind of joking around when we went to regionals and I told him that he or (teammate) Michael Scott would get in,” Sroka said. “I just had a feeling. It’s the end of the year and you never know what’s going to happen.”
Meanwhile, Kentridge continued its late-season surge, advancing four wrestlers to the state tournament, including 171-pounder Jeff Seid, who won the championship at regionals. The last time the Chargers advanced more than two wrestlers to state was 1997, when they had three representatives.
And while Kent-Meridian didn’t bring home any individual titles from the regional tournament, the Royals still advanced their Big Three — Josh Smith (140), Luke Barzie (189) and Jean-Claude Atkinson (285) — to state.
STATE WRESTLING: AT A GLANCE
• WHAT: Mat Classic XXIII
• WHEN: Friday and Saturday, Feb. 18-19
• WHERE: Tacoma Dome
• ADMISSION: All-day passes for adults/seniors/students are $15/$11/$11; All-tournament passes for adults/seniors/students are $23/$17/$17.
• A LOOK AT THE LOCALS COMPETING: Kent-Meridian (Josh Smith, Luke Barzie, Jean-Claude Atkinson); Kentlake (Colton Marlowe, Sean Farr, Jesse Keliiliki); Kentridge (Kenny Hobbs, Daniel Couch, Nick Aliment, Jeff Seid); Kentwood (Ruben Navejas, Dalton Meyers, Hayden Peterson, Daniel Park, Austin Torres, Albert Tadevosyan, Sophia Chi, Cassidy Meyers); Tahoma (Tim Whitehead, Gabe Boynay, Steven Hopkins, Jesse Vaughn, Jordan Jolley, Dan Haniger, Tucker Mjelde, Tanner Mjelde, Matt Hopkins, Garrett Autrey, Aaron Davis).
• SCHEDULE: Matches begin at 10 a.m. both days. The semifinals begin at 10 a.m. Saturday morning. The championship round is runs from 5-9:30 p.m., Saturday night.
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