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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
February 25, 2016     Shelton Mason County Journal
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February 25, 2016
 
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Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016 -Mason County Journal- Page B-9 MAT CLASSIC XXVlll North Mason High School wrestling coach Bill tournament in the 285-pound weight class. Journal photo by Alexandria Valdez McCarty embraces junior Nico Ramirez after Ramirez won his match for 5th place at the state wrestling North Mason's Harmon does not advance to second day By ALEXANDRIA VALDEZ alexandria @masoncoun corn North Mason High School junior Nico Ramirez had two goals this season: make it to state and place fifth or higher. On Saturday, he did just that. "I was really excited," Ramirez said. "It was awesome to have my amazing parents and my amazing coaches just support- ing me and backing me up. It was really awesome to have the whole crowd of our North Mason people cheering when I won, especially how I could hear my mom's voice out of ev- eryone." The North Mason Bulldogs had two wrestlers compete Feb. 19-20 at the Mat Classic XXVIII state tournament at the Tacoma Dome. Ramirez, wrestling in the 285-pound class, placed fifth overall and went 4-2 in his matches. Last year, Ramirez was a state al- ternate. The other North Ma- son state qualifier was ju- nior Colton Harmon in the 106-pound weight class. Har- mon went 0-2 and didn't ad- vance to the second day. It was Harmon's first trip to the state tournament. The bout for fifth place pit- ted Ramirez against Sedro- Woolley High School senior Journal photo by Brianna Loper North Mason High School junior Colton Harmon lunges at opponent Matthew Antfeldt of Tumwater during his first match of the state wrestling tournament. Erik Lukner. up when he stepped on the fending 285-pound state cham- The first period was score-mat. pion. Ramirez took his lumps less, but the action started in "He honestly wrestled his against Mullins and said he the second period. Lukner opt- smartest match of the year was excited to just have the op- ed to start on the bottom in the against a kid (Lukner) thatportunity to wrestle Mullins. referee's position, and it paid beat him last time at region- At the regional meet a week off for him as he earned anals," McCarty said. "He really ago, Harmon bruised his ribs escape. When the period waswrestled a smart match, he when fighting for a spot at the over, Lukner had a 1-0 lead. didn't get panicked, he didn't state tournament. Even with a During the final period, get worried and he went theweek of light practice, the inju- Ramirez's efforts paid off as full six minutes." ry gnawed at him throughout he earned an escape and take- It was a good rebound for his two bouts. down. Ramirez after starting the "I've been to a couple other Ramirez won the match 3-1. tournament with a tough big tournaments in freestyle Coach Bill McCarty said draw. His first opponent was (wrestling)," Harmon said. "I Ramirez was anxious before Hunter Mullins, a senior from went to nationals a few years the match, but finally loosened Orting High School and the de- ago, but this was just a lot dif- ferent. The environment was different; you're with your team and your school. It was way different than freestyle. I've been in a few big tourna- ments, but this just wasn't the result I was looking for." Harmon lost his first match to Tumwater junior Mat- thew Anfeldt, who went on to place fourth overall. His second and final match of the tournament was against Grandview High School sophomore Adrian Benitez. Benitez beat Harmon 9-2. "The matches were tough; my ribs were all banged up," Har- mon said. "But I tried. The sec- ond match, I fought all three rounds and didn't get stuck." The Bulldogs finished the season 1-6 in the 2A Olympic League and went 1-7 overall. From the beginning, the Bull- dogs didn't have enough wres- tlers to fill out a lineup for dual meets. They also lost experi- enced wrestlers early in the season, such as senior Sterling McIntosh, to injuries. McCarty hopes that the suc- cess of competing at the state tournament will help the Bull- dogs moving into next season. "We didn't end up near as well as I thought because of the early injuries and the numbers turnout," McCarty said. "But we had a really fun season. I had a really good group of kids and they had a lot of fun. I think that's going to translate to more people coming out next year as they remember how much fun they had this year."