Jesus Valdez savored this one.<\/p>\n
Kent-Meridian\u2019s standout 103-pound wrestler accomplished something on Saturday night at the Tacoma Dome that no other member of the school\u2019s program has done during the past decade.<\/p>\n
Valdez, one of the pillars of a program that has been low on numbers in recent years but has taken a considerable step forward this winter, finished third on Saturday at Mat Classic XXII. In doing so, Valdez, a senior, became Kent-Meridian\u2019s first 3-time state placer of the decade.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s special,\u201d said Valdez, who wrapped up his senior season with an impressive 40-4 overall record. \u201cI came in here and it wasn\u2019t as nerve-wracking as the other three times. I came in here a little more confident, a little more ready to place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was more excited than I\u2019ve ever been before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with being K-M\u2019s first 3-time state placer during the decade, Valdez also was the school\u2019s lone wrestler to advance to the state tournament four times during that span.<\/p>\n
The accomplishment was not lost on Coach Todd Owens, who has seen multiple wrestlers start the sport at Kent-Meridian, but seldom see it through for an entire four years.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s invaluable,\u201d said Owens. \u201cHe\u2019s got great family, he\u2019s positive, he\u2019s done so much for the school, not just in wrestling. He\u2019s a great kid, a great role model \u2026 you just can\u2019t get any better than this guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wrestling in one of the state\u2019s toughest weight classes, Valdez \u2013 as he has done the last four years \u2013 delivered the goods on Friday and Saturday. The senior flyweight opened the tournament on Friday with a convincing 8-2 victory over Josh Newberg of Kelso. Valdez followed that up with a 15-6 major decision of Sonny Mundell of Snohomish, earning a berth in the semifinals.<\/p>\n
Valdez was unable to overcome eventual champion Steven Hopkins of Tahoma in the semis, falling 12-1.<\/p>\n
Instead of folding, however, the K-M standout persevered, knocking off Newberg again, 4-1, then stopping Evergreen\u2019s Michael Nguyen 7-5 for the third-place medal.<\/p>\n
Valdez didn\u2019t place as a freshman, but finished eighth as a sophomore and fifth last year as a junior. Saturday night\u2019s win over Nguyen provided Valdez with his finest finish to date.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew that I would have a tough match with Hopkins, so I planned ahead,\u201d said Valdez, who will attend Washington State University in the fall and pursue a degree in education. \u201cI knew that if I lost to (Hopkins), that I\u2019d have to come back and take third because it\u2019s the last time, my last year. I had to finish strong no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n
The final trip to the Tacoma Dome was emotional, Valdez admitted, but plenty worth it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been a nice run.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valdez was joined on the podium Saturday night by teammate Nick Lemmon, who took sixth at 160 pounds. Lemmon delivered an impressive finish as well. The K-M senior lost his opening match, then won three-straight loser-out bouts to finish among the state\u2019s top eight in the weight class.<\/p>\n
Lemmon finished the season with a 40-7 overall record.<\/p>\n
Kent-Meridian\u2019s Andrew Smith (140), the only other Royal to compete at the tournament, won one match before dropping his next two en route to elimination. Valdez, Lemmon and Smith have been cornerstones to a program that has turned the corner this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re all positive to coach, positive kids, none of them are lifetime wrestlers, either,\u201d Owens said. \u201cThey\u2019re easy to work with \u2026 they listen and are just great kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valdez, one of the pillars of a program that has been low on numbers in recent years but has taken a considerable step forward this winter, finished third on Saturday at Mat Classic XXII. In doing so, Valdez, a senior, became Kent-Meridian\u2019s first 3-time state placer of the decade.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s special,\u201d said Valdez, who wrapped up his senior season with an impressive 40-4 overall record. \u201cI came in here and it wasn\u2019t as nerve-wracking as the other three times. I came in here a little more confident, a little more ready to place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was more excited than I\u2019ve ever been before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with being K-M\u2019s first 3-time state placer during the decade, Valdez also was the school\u2019s lone wrestler to advance to the state tournament four times during that span.<\/p>\n
The accomplishment was not lost on Coach Todd Owens, who has seen multiple wrestlers start the sport at Kent-Meridian, but seldom see it through for an entire four years.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s invaluable,\u201d said Owens. \u201cHe\u2019s got great family, he\u2019s positive, he\u2019s done so much for the school, not just in wrestling. He\u2019s a great kid, a great role model \u2026 you just can\u2019t get any better than this guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wrestling in one of the state\u2019s toughest weight classes, Valdez \u2013 as he has done the last four years \u2013 delivered the goods on Friday and Saturday. The senior flyweight opened the tournament on Friday with a convincing 8-2 victory over Josh Newberg of Kelso. Valdez followed that up with a 15-6 major decision of Sonny Mundell of Snohomish, earning a berth in the semifinals.<\/p>\n
Valdez was unable to overcome eventual champion Steven Hopkins of Tahoma in the semis, falling 12-1.<\/p>\n
Instead of folding, however, the K-M standout persevered, knocking off Newberg again, 4-1, then stopping Evergreen\u2019s Michael Nguyen 7-5 for the third-place medal.<\/p>\n
Valdez didn\u2019t place as a freshman, but finished eighth as a sophomore and fifth last year as a junior. Saturday night\u2019s win over Nguyen provided Valdez with his finest finish to date.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew that I would have a tough match with Hopkins, so I planned ahead,\u201d said Valdez, who will attend Washington State University in the fall and pursue a degree in education. \u201cI knew that if I lost to (Hopkins), that I\u2019d have to come back and take third because it\u2019s the last time, my last year. I had to finish strong no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n
The final trip to the Tacoma Dome was emotional, Valdez admitted, but plenty worth it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been a nice run.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valdez was joined on the podium Saturday night by teammate Nick Lemmon, who took sixth at 160 pounds. Lemmon delivered an impressive finish as well. The K-M senior lost his opening match, then won three-straight loser-out bouts to finish among the state\u2019s top eight in the weight class.<\/p>\n
Lemmon finished the season with a 40-7 overall record.<\/p>\n
Kent-Meridian\u2019s Andrew Smith (140), the only other Royal to compete at the tournament, won one match before dropping his next two en route to elimination. Valdez, Lemmon and Smith have been cornerstones to a program that has turned the corner this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re all positive to coach, positive kids, none of them are lifetime wrestlers, either,\u201d Owens said. \u201cThey\u2019re easy to work with \u2026 they listen and are just great kids.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jesus Valdez savored this one.
\nKent-Meridian\u2019s standout 103-pound wrestler accomplished something on Saturday night at the Tacoma Dome that no other member of the school\u2019s program has done during the past decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-4836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4836"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4836\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4836"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=4836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}