Leaving a series of higher-ranked wrestlers in their wakes, Oak Harbor High School’s Joshua Crebbin and Courtney Shavers bulled their way into the semifinals at the state 3A wrestling championships, Mat Classic XXV, Friday at the Tacoma Dome.
As a team the Wildcats are in seventh place with 38 points; University leads with 69. Wrestling begins at 10 a.m. Saturday with the finals at 5 p.m.
Of the 11 Wildcats who qualified for state, only two others, Cody Fakkema and Jahleel Vester, are still alive to earn a medal with a top-eight finish.
Seventh-ranked Crebbin (160 pounds) upset top-ranked Cayle Williams of Bonney Lake 13-7 in the quarterfinals after opening with a wild 16-13 win over Juanita’s 11th-ranked Mason McDaniel.
Ninth-ranked Shavers (170) slipped by eighth-ranked Syd Springberg of Mountlake Terrace 9-8 and pinned Peninsula’s fifth-ranked Luke Holsinger in 3:30.
Fakkema and Vester, both in the 132-pound class, won in the first round, then lost in round two before picking up a consolation win.
Fifth-ranked Fakkema topped seventh-ranked Ryan Valley of Peninsula 6-2, lost to 10th-ranked Harley Kolp of Kamiakin 7-0 and defeated Kelso’s Trevor Smith 9-3.
Ninth-ranked Vester pinned (1:00) Lakes’ sixth-ranked Kevionne Robbins, lost a 7-6 heartbreaker to Kelso’s top-ranked Tyler Wicken and blanked Mount Spokane’s 12th-ranked Richie Bondurant 8-0.
Jeremy Vester (120) and Jackson Constant (285) each won in the opening round and then dropped two straight and were eliminated.
Seventh-ranked Jeremy Vester pinned (3:18) Lester Payton of Kelso, lost 9-2 to Bonney Lake’s third-ranked Colton Tracy and 7-6 to 10th-ranked Michael Hosfield of Kennewick.
Tenth-ranked Constant opened with a 44-second fall over Duncan Crawford of Fort Vancouver, then lost by falls to Decatur’s top-ranked Kyle Gleed (:56) and Shelton’s second-ranked Ben Anderson (:51).
Twelveth-ranked Jacob Fitzgerald (138) lost to Bonney Lake’s third-ranked Caid Caveness 16-3, pinned (3:52) Kennedy’s Jack Larsen and lost 7-3 to seventh-ranked Dylan Reed of Bainbridge Island.
Aimee Oliver (girls 155) lost by a fall (1:43) to second-ranked Luaipou Lologo of Federal Way, picked up a consolation win 7-4 over Charliann McCall of Centralia, then fell (1:48) to 10th-ranked Aneissa Gonzales of Warden.
Christian Bertram (106), Mark Johnston (138) and Zaiha Sams (girls 118) each lost both of their bouts.
