February 25, 2016 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
©
Shelton Mason County Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 47 (7 of 24 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
February 25, 2016 |
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader ![]() |
Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016 - Mason County Journal- Page B-7
MAT CLASSIC XXVlll
Shelton High School junior Matti Mecham won her first match at state wrestling.
Journal photos by Brianna Loper
Lacy goes 1-2, but does
not advance to second
day of competition
By ALEXANDRIA VALDEZ
alexandria@masoncoun com
Last year, Matti Mecham
was an alternate at the state
tournament. So she saw the
lights, she saw the crowds and
she saw the 24 mats spread
out across the concrete floor of
the Tacoma Dome.
But the Shelton wrestler
didn't know what it was like
to compete on the floor in the
heat of the moment.
"It's very serious," said Me-
cham, now a junior. "Very seri-
ous. I always wondered what
it was like to be down there
warming up for your match.
It's intense, you know that
everyone's eyes are on you, at
least from Shelton."
Mecham was one of two ......
Shelton girls wrestlers who
competed Feb. 19-20 at the
Mat Classic XXVIII state tour-
nament.
Mecham placed sixth over-
all in the 145-pound weight
class. She went 3-3 overall.
Coach Roger Garrick said
the last time Shelton brought
two girls to the tournament
was in the late 2000s.
The other wrestler at the
state tournament was fresh-
man Quinn Lacy, who com-
peted in the 170-pound weight
class. She went 1-2 overall and
did not advance to the second
day for a medal.
The final match of Me-
cham's junior season came
down to the wire when she
Journal photo by Alexandria Valdez
Shelton High School freshman Quinn Lacy competes during
the state tournament against Connell's Caily Mendez.
Mecham squirms to get out of a hold by opponent Aniecea
Camacho of Mount Baker,
have a 5-1 lead.
But Nichols wasn't ready to
settle for another sixth-place
finish. Despite Mecham earn~
ing a takedown after Nichols
escaped, she slipped away
from Mecham one more time.
Then, Nichols launched her-
self for a takedown and a near
faced Mount Baker senior Ra-
chel Nichols. Last year Nichols
placed sixth at state.
Mecham's first two periods
were her strongest. She scored
the only points in the first pe-
riod with a takedown. During
the second period, she earned
an escape and a takedown to
fall.
In the end, Nichols beat Me-
cham by an 8-7 decision.
"It was not the way I want-
ed to go," Mecham said. "But
I wrestled hard and I gave it
what I could. I'm happy with
how I did. Last year, I was only
an alternate and this year, I
didn't think I was going to get
a state medal."
One of the toughest match-
es for Mecham was her sec-
ond match against Grandview
High School senior Desiree Za-
vala. Zavala was a three-time
state champion and won the
145-pound bracket this year.
Mecham hung with Zavala un-
til the second period when she
was pinned.
For Lacy, this was the first
time she was in the action.
Lacy lost her first match to
eventual state champion Is-
saquah High School senior
Kaci Moorehouse.
So in order to stay in the
hunt for a medal, Lacy had to
win her second match against
Connell High School senior
Caily Mendez.
Their first period was
scoreless and Lacy found her-
self starting on the bottom of
the referee's position for the
second round. Lacy quickly
earned a reversal and put the
first two points on the board.
Mendez slipped out for brief
escape, but Lacy earned a
takedown for a 4-1 lead.
All she had to do in the fi-
nal period was keep Mendez
from scoring. Mendez escaped
from Lacy's clutches twice, but
it wasn't enough as Lacy won
4-3.
The final match for Lacy
was a double overtime loss to
Evergreen High School (Se-
attle) senior Luna Tupa. She
went on to place seventh over-
all in the tournament.
Despite the results, Lacy is
looking forward to three more
chances to compete at state.
"It's a great experience,"
Lacy said. "If you have a
chance to experience it then
it really just helps you. Even
if you just come to watch, it
helps in the future for knowing
what the state meet is like."
Shelton's girls team was
also named the academic state
champions for the second year
in a row.
"They are student-ath-
letes, emphasis on the stu-
dent first," Garricl~ said. "So
that's a big accomplishment.
I'm proud of them. It's some-
thing we're going to strive for
every year."
The accolade of being state
academic champions two years
in a row is the topping on a
year of growth for the girls
team. At the end of December,
the girls won their first tour-
nament title in school history
and had 12 girls for most of the
season. They ended with nine
girls.
With the success of Lacy
and Mecham, next year should
be full of more gains for the
Climbers.
"I'm really excited," Gar-
rick said. "Quinn and Matti
are coming back, almost ev-
• eryone is coming back off our
girls team. You can expect a
little bit of success just from
that. But they have to get
back to work .... If they want
to achieve here at the Tacoma
Dome, they need to compete
more."