Wolves send six to Mat Classic

The goal was to get as many wrestlers through regionals and on to state.

South Kitsap High School wrestling coach Ron Hudiburg watched six of his wrestlers advance to Mat Classic XIV at the Tacoma Dome.

Now he will see how mentally and physically tough his wrestlers will be when they face tough first-round matches Friday.

Pat Kelly (145 pounds) took second place at the regional tournament last weekend in Snohomish.

However, he probably has the toughest draw out of the six SK wrestlers.

He will open against Moses Lake’s Eric Garcia, who placed third at state last year.

If Kelly manages to get past Garcia, he would presumably have to face Heritage’s Fred Farmer, a three-time state placer.

Kelly lost to Farmer at Vancouver’s Pacific Coast Championships in December.

Kyle Caldon (152), who took fourth at regionals, opens against Enumclaw’s Josh Wiebenga.

Wiebenga won the Region II title last week and also won the CK Matmen tournament a month ago.

Dustin Johnson (125), a fourth-place finisher at regionals, faces Adam Thiessen of Auburn-Riverside. Thiessen is the Region II champion.

Derek Kipperberg was hoping for a first-place finish but taking third may have been a good thing for the 119-pound senior.

Kipperberg lost in the regional semifinals to Cascade’s Tony Kubec, 5-2, before beating Ty Human of Lake Stevens, 6-5, to take third place.

Both Kubec, Human and Heritage’s Jesse Getchell are in the top half.

If Kipperberg gets past Juanita’s Mike Ibsen, he will presumably face Gonzaga Prep’s Luke Kuhn in the quarterfinal.

Kuhn lost to Kipperberg in the 112-pound state quarterfinals last year 3-2.

Kipperberg’s younger brother, Micah, took fourth at regionals and will face Bothell’s Justin Davidson, the Region III champion.

Evan Winslow was SK’s lone regional champion, and he will face No. 4 seed Jay Carlile of Battle Ground.

A win there pits him against either Enumclaw’s Quintin Josie or University’s Elliot Tenner.

The good news for Winslow is if he can advance to the semifinals he won’t have to go through both Derek McLaughlin (Capital) or Cory Devela (Sumner). Devela and McLaughlin will probably meet in the quarterfinals.

Winslow lost to Devela at the CK Matmen tournament 14-0.

With six wrestlers going to state, Hudiburg said he’s pleased with the results.

“I thought we did great,” Hudiburg said. “We had our ups and downs, but there were more ups than downs and that’s always good.”

Derek Kipperberg, fourth at state last year, suffered just his second loss of the year to Kubec.

Though the loss stung, Kipperberg said he will be ready for state.

“I’m ready to go out there and wrestle again,” he said. “I’ll just mentally prepare like I usually do and make sure I get some practice in the mat room and get ready to go.”

One of the biggest matches came with Caldon’s 152-pound consolation semifinal against Stanwood’s Joe Webb.

The match was a winner-to-state, loser-out match.

In Caldon’s case it would have been the end of his prep career.

Trailing 8-6 with under 1:30 left in the match, Caldon slipped a head and arm and pinned him for the come-from-behind win.

“I just decided I wanted it,” Caldon said. “I knew I had to throw a big move or else my season was over.”

Johnson travelled the longest road to his fourth-place finish.

After losing his opening round, Johnson won the next three matches to advance to state.

He lost a two-point decision to North Kitsap’s Jordan Andersen for third place.

Region I results

Snohomish High School

112—Micah Kipperberg d. Tyler Hill (Everett) 11-5; p. Corey Cummins (Snohomish) :48; d. by Joe Trieu (Edmonds-Woodway) 9-7; d. Kyle Timbers (SK) 5-3; md. by Julio Garcia (PA) 13-3; placed fourth.

112—Kyle Timbers p. by Joe Trieu (Edmonds-Woodway) 4:43; d. James Williams (Mount Vernon) 8-1; d. Kevin Lang (Oak Harbor) 4-2; d. by Micah Kipperberg (SK) 5-3; d. CJ Brown (Stanwood); placed fifth (alternate).

119—Derek Kipperberg md. Matt Curry (Mount Vernon) 12-1; tf. Darrin Birkenbuel (Jackson) 23-8; d. by Tony Kubec (Cascade) 5-2; d. Ty Human (Lake Stevens) 6-5; placed third.

125—Dustin Johnson d. by Kyle Castle (Mariner) 6-2; d. Bryan Irwin (Everett) 16-8; d. James Thompson (SK) 10-2; d. Chris Wichers (Oak Harbor) 7-5; d. by Jordan Andersen (NK) 5-3; placed fourth.

125—James Thompson tf. by Burke Barnes (Lake Stevens) 23-7; p. Brian Jensen (Shorewood) :35; d. by Dustin Johnson (SK) 10-2; did not place.

130—Brendon Little p. Brandon Wood (Jackson) 1:24; d. by Craig Zimmerman 5-0; d. by Charly Eaton (Jackson); did not place.

145—Pat Kelly d. Joe Kim (Mountlake Terrace) 6-3; md. Tyler Thompson (Marysville-Pilchuck) 9-0; d. Lance Stach (Snohomish) 5-3; d. by Brent Thompson 7-1; placed second.

152—Kyle Caldon d. Joe Webb (Stanwood) 7-5; md. Jared Vandriessche (Kamiak) 14-1; d. by Brad Kihm (Snohomish) 9-8; p. Joe Webb (Stanwood) 4:50; d. by Jeff Nearing (Lake Stevens) 3-2; placed fourth.

160—Evan Winslow—d. Anthony Matney (Shorecrest) 3-0; d. Christian Anderson (Lake Stevens) 6-5; d. Josh McDonnell (Cascade) 5-2; placed first.

171—Dean Hoskins d. by Josh Reed (Edmonds-Woodway) 9-5; d. by Pat O’Brien (Oak Harbor); did not place.

189—Devin Spencer d. by Ryan Anderson (Lake Stevens) 12-5; d. Chris Morey (Shorewood); d. Eric Cunningham (Mount Vernon), d. by Ryan Anderson (Lake Stevens); d. Mike Quarrie (Kamiak) 8-4; placed fifth (alternate).

215—Jon Potts d. Brian Turner (Everett) 13-6; d. by Irwin Weiser (Marysville-Pilchuck); d. by Matt Leonard (Lake Stevens) 7-6; d. Brian Turner (Everett) 4-2 OT; placed fifth (alternate).

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