Kentwood High’s Josh Boekelman captured the only win among Kent wrestlers at the Region III boys competition last Saturday at Auburn High School.
Boekelman defeated Tahoma’s Garret Autrey 9-5 in the 170-pound final. Wrestlers will compete Friday and Saturday at the Mat Classic at the Tacoma Dome.
Tahoma won the regional team championship with 226 points to second-place Graham-Kapowsin’s 150. Kentwood took fourth with 97.5 and Kentridge was sixth.
Kent-Meridian senior Joshua Smith lost a tight match in the 138 final to Graham-Kapowsin’s Corde Ferreira, falling 6-4. Fellow Royals senior Treyvonn Wilson finished fourth at 170.
Kentridge senior Arthur Sargent lost a 7-0 decision in the 145-pound final. Chargers junior Zach Seibel took second at 182.
Tahoma’s Ed Torres beat South Puget Sound League North rival Tyler Deskins, a senior from Kentlake, 6-2 in the 285-pound final. Deskins won a 3-2 decision in four overtimes in the semi-finals over Alex Boynton of Graham-Kapowsin for the chance to wrestle Torres for the second week in a row — the pair squared off in the sub-regional 285 pound final where Torres also won.
Kentlake sophomore Nick Smith suffered his first defeat of the season in the 106 final to Graham-Kapowsin senior Spencer Schoeder, losing 5-0. Fellow sophomore Josh Beckler put together a run in the consolation bracket to take third at 145.
Kentridge’s Derek Freitag finished fourth at 106. Chargers senior Kenny Hobbs finished sixth after a loss to Kentwood sophomore Conor Berlin in the fifth-sixth match at 113. Sphejtim Gilar from Kentwood defeated Kent-Meridian’s Chianson Siu for fifth at 126.
Tahoma then crowned three regional champions in a row starting with Tim Whitehead’s 6-0 victory over Kentwood sophomore Walker Meyers in the 120 pound final followed by junior Cruz Velasquez’s second-round pin of Spanaway’s Brian Short to win at 126. Gabe Boynay rounded out the string of three straight with a 2-1 victory over Kentwood’s Dalton Meyers at 132.
Bears senior Matt Hopkins earned Tahoma’s fourth individual title of the day with his 3-2 win over Kent-Meridian senior Thomas Kemp. A year ago Kemp defeated Hopkins’s teammate Autrey at 170 at the regional tournament.
Girls regionals
In the girls regional tournament, Kentwood senior Cassidy Meyers continued her pursuit of her second state wrestling crown by pinning her way through the 124-pound bracket. She put together a pin with 12 seconds remaining in the first period of the final against ShaRaya Quinn of Emerald Ridge. She will join her younger brothers Walker and Dalton at state this year to cap her final season of wrestling.
Also qualifying for state for the Conquerors at 124 was freshman Sara Mozeleski, who finished third.
Kentridge senior Taylor Lee finished third at 112 to earn a state berth.
Kent-Meridian’s Margaret Hoyman placed fifth at 130 and Ana Valdez took fifth at 100. The top four at regionals earned state berths.
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