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Shelton-Mason County Journal
Shelton girls' rugby wins one match at international tourney
nfid of all the t~ams in the tournament as far as understand, is a lot better than American rugby and B.C. is the hot-bed
Team home with co ence ing the rules, playing strategy and moving on the field," of Canadian rugby."
Nesmith said. "Every coach also told us the girls all un- Nesmith said the trip overall was great for the girls'
tor uncomina season derstood their jobs and were very inspiring in how they team and gave them more confidence about their abilities
jr_
--/1-0
played." as a team.
By EMILY HANSON Shelton opened play against the Saskatchewan All-Star The Kent, Wash. team is considered the best team in
emily@masoncounty.corn tea, mv~Osing 15-10. Washington state and was the first girls' rugby team in the
had a good iron curtain defense where we stayedUnited States, Nesmith said.
flat and marched them back down field," Nesmith said. "We don't feel like Kent is unbeatable anymore," he added.
Though the Shelton girls' rugby sevens team won one "The problem was that their smallest player was bigger During the tournament, Nesmith said each girl on the
game out of four at the 2012 Rugby Sevens Tournament in than our biggest player and they could move down the field team did their jobs exactly how they should be done.
Las Vegas, the trip was invaluable for the team,faster than we could." "Junior Ivanna Bell is a strategic genius and senior
"This being our first touring experience, there were a Shelton then lost a very close match against Utah, 17-15. Sabrina Dennis is a defensive machine," Nesmith added.
lot of overwhelming emotions," head coach Chris Nesmith "Utah made a kick in the final seconds of the match and "Senior Marl Givens" has speed which creates huge break-
said. "When we went there, there was a fear that we were we lost," Nesmith said. aways. Once she got the ball in her hands, she was going
not ready for such a tournament. Coming home, we knew After Utah, Shelton defeated the Minnesota All-Star to score."
we are ready for international play." team 22-0 and then lost to the British Columbia All-Star Beyond improving the team's skills and confidence, at-
Nesmith said the Shelton team was widely acknowl- team 27-0. tending this tournament also gave the girls a larger sense
edged as the best-playing team among the all-star teams. "This was the B.C. All-Star team's lowest scoring margin
"The coach from Penn State said we played the best out in the entire tournament," Nesmith said. "Canadian rugby
See Rugby on page C-4
SHS senior
strives to
achieve
life goals
By EMILY HANSON
erniI~ ~'mas'gncounty.corn
Colby Barber has spe:
cific goals he is striving to
achieve.
Barber, a senior wrestler
for Shelton High School, set
the goal to finish in the top
four of 170,pound wrestlers
at the WIAA's 2012 Mat
Classic XXIV and last week-
end he took one more step
toward achieving it.
At the
4A Re-
gion III
Wrestling
Champi-
onships at
Thomas
Jeffer-
son High
School,
Colby B a r b e r
Barber took third
place and
advanced
to the Mat Classic, which
begins at 10 a.m, on Fri-
day, Feb. 17, at the Tacoma
Dome.
"I can see myself in the
top four at state," Barber
said. "I haven't been too
confident in my past wres-
tling seasons but this year
my confidence is good. It's
my senior year and I've got
to put everything out there.
You can't do that if you're
not confident. Also, I've got-
ten a lot better this year."
Headed into the postsea-
son, Barber owned a 6-1 re-
cord in the Narrows league
and a 20-4 record overall for
the season. After the Nar-
rows League Championship
two weeks ago, Barber's
overall record increased to
23-4.
With one loss at the re-
gional tournament last
weekend, Barber's record
going to state is now 26-5.
Barber attributes some
of his success to his team.
"Seeing my teammates
competing with me inspires
me," Barber said. "It really
gets me going when I see
them winning."
Another factor to Bar-
ber's, success is that he's
been wrestling for 14 years.
"I started when I lived
in Iowa and I stuck with it
because I was pretty good at
it when I was younger," Bar-
ber said.
He and his family moved
to Washington when he was
8, and he continued wres-
tling, he went to the state
tournament last year.
See Athlete on page C-4
Journal photos by Emily Hanson
Shelton senior Adam Coffman, at 132, cradles his opponent, junior Jamiel Jackson from Kentwood, during their first-
round bout at the 4A Region III WrestlingChampionships on Saturday, Feb. 11, at Thomas Jefferson High School.
Coffman defeated Jackson 12-9 in the first round and then in the consolation finals with a 51 second fall to take third.
By EMILY HANSON "This time, Adam won with a first-
emi[y@masoncounty.com period pin," Lacy said.
The next Highclimber to advance to
state in third place was senior Colby
The Shelton wrestling team took Barber atl70.
fourth place at regionals last weekend "Colby had a very exciting match to
and advanced four Highclimber wrestlers advance to the state meet," Lacy said.
to the 2012 WIAA Mat Classic XXIV. "After getting ahead early in the match,
On Saturday, Feb. 11, nine High- a few calls did not go our way. Late
climbers competed at the 4A Region III in the match, Colby earned a reversal
Wrestling Championships at Thomasand two-point nearfall to win by three
Jefferson High School. points. This will be Colby's second trip
The highest-placing Highclimber to the state championships."
was senior Ty McCullough, who took Like Coffman, Barber's final match
second place at 113. of the day was a rematch against an
"Ty wrestled great all day long,"earlier opponent. In the first round,
head coach Chris Lacy said. "His first Barber defeated Stephen Heinze of Au-
two matches were won by fall. In his burn with a 3:24 pin. In the consolation
semifinal match, Ty entered the second finals, Barber defeated Heinze by major
round down 7-2. After earning two quick decision 18-6.
nearfalls to tie the score, he locked up a The final third-place finisher for
cradle and earned a pin." Shelton was senior Johnathen Dennis
Lacy said McCullough's final match, at 182.
against TimWhiteheadofTahoma, was"Johnathen also had a very close
a rematch from earlier this season, match to advance to the state meet,"
"This time, the match was very com- Lacy said. "He let his nerves get to him
petitive and Ty entered the third period a little bit and was too cautious. At the
in a 2-2 tie," Lacy said. "This is a match end of regulation, the score was 0-0. In
that Ty will win next time. This will be overtime, Johnathen opened up and
Ty's third trip to the state meet." pinned his opponent. Johnathen earned
The last Highclimber to accomplish bonus points in all three of his victories
three trips to the Mat Classic, Lacy adding six points to our team points to-
said, was Nick Cronquist in 1998-2000. tal."
Shelton had three wrestlers take Dennis won the consolation finals
third place, round by injury default.
First was senior Adam Coffman at Shelton will also be taking one alter-
132. hate to the Mat Classic. Junior Jakeob
"Adam's key win came at the begin- Garrick took fifth place at 126, earning
ning of the day in a 12-9 match against him the alternate slot.
another great athlete," Lacy said. "Ad- "Jakeob was very competitive all
am's third match was against South day long but lost two very close match-
Kitsap's Ben DeLacy. Adam earned a es," Lacy said. "He is the alternate at
first round pin and secured his position his weight so we are keeping our fin-
in the state meet." gers crossed and hoping that he gets a
In Coffman's first match of the day, chance to wrestle this weekend."
he defeated Jamiel Jackson from Kent- Junior Ben Anderson was the final
wood. Coffman's final round was a re-
match with Jackson.
Shelton senior Colby Barber, at 170, wraps up
his opponent, Stephen Heinze of Auburn, to
pull him to the mat during their first-round
bout at the 4A Region III Wrestling
Championships. Barber won with a 3:24 fall in
the first round and defeated Heinze again by
.... major ion the eo olation finals to
See Wrestling on page C-4 finish in third.
Shelton-Mason County Journal- Thursday, February 16, 2012 - Page C-1