TACOMA — Not too shabby.

Two years as a state wrestling participant at 112 pounds and now two sixth place finishes for Oak Harbor’s Karlson Miller.

“It means a lot,” the senior said after the final match of his career on Saturday. “Placing in state twice is a pretty big achievement.”

The road to another placement, however, was no easy task.

Miller had to battle through what OHHS head coach Brian Farmer considered one of the most difficult weight classes the 17th Mat Classic had to offer, and he was tested right away.

“He had some of the toughest guys right off the bat,” Farmer said.

After winning with a fair amount of ease, 8-2, over Nick Webster of Emerald Ridge, the level of competition got bumped up a notch against eventual third place finisher Chase Fish from University of Spokane. Fish maintained a lead the entire match, before pinning Miller with nine seconds left in their bout.

The loss faced Miller with possible elimination Friday night and left him with no choice but to win if he wanted to continue Saturday at the Tacoma Dome. Miller responded to the challenge against freshman Steven Loos of Heritage, dominating in an 8-2 decision that guaranteed placement.

“There’s some pressure, but I just go out there and wrestle,” Miller said.

Saturday started off in exciting fashion for Miller.

Tied 1-1 going into the final round with Kris Lay of Thomas Jefferson, Miller pulled out some last minute heroics by getting away on a switch escape for one point and a 2-1 lead. He then narrowly held off Lay, who was in pursuit of a two-point takedown, as time expired.

“That was really close right at the end,” Farmer said. “It was a scary one.”

The victory moved Miller into a match an hour later with Joel Robbins of Eastmont for the right to battle for third place.

Appearing fatigued from his earlier match, Miller never was able to take the lead on Robbins, eventually losing a 5-2 decision.

Miller’s final match for fifth place was a repeat of last year’s match up with Jerry Yniguez of Pasco.

After suffering a loss by fall to Yniguez last year, Miller had revenge on the mind. He started out strong, earning a two-point takedown for an early lead. Yniguez, however, turned the tables gaining control of the match for a 7-2 decision and fifth place.

“I think I did pretty good, I just wish I would have got that last one,” Miller said.

Oak Harbor’s other two state participants weren’t able to make it to day two.

Junior Sean O’Brien appeared to be on his way to placement at 171 pounds after winning 16-11 over Ian Aschenbrenner of Puyallup, but then ran into tough luck.

In a second-round battle with eventual state Brent Chriswell of South Kitsap, O’Brien suffered a broken nose after getting slammed to the mat face first. He lost the match via injury default and it was ruled by doctors because of a mild concussion he couldn’t advance to his next bout.

“The sad thing is in his next match he would have had faced a kid he beat in regionals,” Farmer said.

Instead O’Brien was eliminated from the tournament with no chance to place.

Junior Jeff Lang had a rough start in a first round 8-2 decision to Matt Johnson of Woodinville. He then lost a close 3-1 match to Anthony Varnell of Lewis and Clark, who went on to take third place overall at 135 pounds.

Oak Harbor earned 10.5 points, putting them 41st overall as a team. University won the 4A division with 135 points, while WesCo North opponent Lake Stevens took second with 118 points.

Although OHHS wasn’t among the top placers, Farmer was pleased with the effort put forth by his wrestlers just to get to the Tacoma Dome.

“It’s just a great tribute to those three who were able to make it to state through the toughest region,” he said.