Bound for state

Shelton High School senior Ryan Mackiewicz's commanding 2A regional victory at 170 pounds led the way as six Mason County wrestlers advanced to this week's Mat Classic XXXIII at the Tacoma Dome.

In the 2A Region 3 meet Saturday at Washougal High School, Mackiewicz pinned W.F. West's Waylen Land late in the second period to become the first Shelton wrestler to win a regional since 2009.

"Over the last month [Mackiewicz] has become very disciplined with his positioning and technique," Shelton coach Chris Lacy wrote in an email. "He has been dominant with his double-leg takedown, and has also earned a lot of pins in turk position."

Mackiewicz pinned all three of his opponents at regionals, including Land, whom he defeated in a 13-1 major decision during the 170-pound title match at the Evergreen Conference subregional tournament at the Shelton Mini-Dome.

Mackiewicz is 19-14 overall this year, but is 13-4 since Jan. 12, according to Lacy.

At 182 pounds, Shelton's Mario Boxley finished second at the regional meet after losing an 8-4 decision to W.F West's Brock Guyette.

Boxley, who also fell to Guyette in the final round of the subregional meet, is 12-4 this season after returning to the Climbers' lineup from injury.

According to Lacy, Boxley and Mackiwicz are wrestling partners during practice and the two have pushed each other's success over the past month.

"We expect a lot of great wrestling out of each this weekend," Lacy wrote. "They represent the Highclimbers well in every capacity."

Mackiewicz and Boxley qualified for this week's Mat Classic at the Tacoma Dome, which begins at 10 a.m. Friday.

Shelton's Drew Schirman (138 pounds) and Daniel Tausa (285) each finished fifth at regionals and are first alternates for this week's state meet.

Shelton girls

Senior Highclimber Marie Marbet finished fourth in the 145-pound weight class, defeating teammate EliBeth Cervantes in a consolation semifinal to advance to Mat Classic.

Marbet was 3-2 in the Region 3 girls meet Saturday at Aberdeen High School. Both losses were against Union's Grace Stong.

She pinned Rainier's Amanda Morris and Wahkiakim's Lilian Halem before winning a 6-1 decision against Cervantes with a strong third-period showing.

Cervantes also qualified for the state meet with a pin of Washougal's Kiersten Lees in the fifth-place match.

North Mason boys

The Bulldogs' Izaiah Smith and Jake Mathews qualified for Mat Classic with top-four placings at the Region 2 championships Saturday at Orting High School.

At 152 pounds, Mathews went 3-1, pinning Port Angeles' Zach Gavin in the third-place bout to punch a ticket to Mat Classic.

At 126 pounds, Smith went 2-2, winning a pair of consolation matches before falling to Port Angeles' Pheonix Flores.

Author Bio

Justin Johnson, Editor

Shelton-Mason County Journal & Belfair Herald
Email: [email protected]