Published: Sunday, February 17, 2008

Vikings champs again

Lake Stevens hangs o= n to win second straight Class 4A wrestling team title

By Mike Cane
Herald Writer

TACOMA -- Doubts chased Josh Monson all the way to Mat Classic XX.

Would the knee Monson injured early this season be strong enough?

Could he finally beat a foe that he lost against twice this postseas= on?

How would he handle the pressure of competing for the state's top-ra= nked Class 4A team?

By the end of his final match Saturday during Mat Classic, the state wrestling championships at the Tacoma Dome, Monson answered every question.= He did it by earning a trip to the top of the awards podium, fulfilling a drea= m he said he's had since age 5.

Monson, a senior from Lake Stevens High School, beat Snohomish junior Stefan St. Marie in the 135-pound final and was one of three individual sta= te champs for Lake Stevens, which held off Graham-Kapowsi= n to win its second consecutive team title and its sixth since 1990.

"Everything paid off. Everything was worth it," Monson sai= d a few minutes after sharing hearty hugs with his coaches and shedding tears.<= /span>

Monson endured a minor medial-collateral ligament tear in his left k= nee in his first match of the season. He competed with pain before sitting out a few weeks, returning in time to place second behind Snohomish's St. Marie at the district and regional tourneys.

This time, Monson used an aggressive style to beat St. Marie with a = 16-9 decision. St. Marie entered the match unbeaten with a record of 40-0.

The other individual winners for Lake Stevens were Josh Heinzer (103 pounds) and George King (145).

Like Monson, Heinzer beat a familiar foe= in the finals. Facing Oak Harbor freshman Josh Martinez for the fourth time th= is season, Heinzer prevailed 4-2. The Lake Stevens sophomore, a first time Mat Classic qualifier, scored the eventual winning points with a second-period reversal.

After losing against Martinez during the regular season, Heinzer beat him three straight times.<= br>
"I like good competition. He's a dang good freshman," said= Heinzer, who last season competed for the Lake Stevens "C" team, a step below junior varsity.

Snohomish, which tallied 93 points to finish tied for fourth, started 0-2 in championship finals. But senior Brad Perry rallied the Panthers with a 14-12 decision over previously undefeated Cody = Hoiness of Moses Lake in the 140-pound title match.

Perry's first-place finish is the first by a Snohomish wrestler in 38 years. Fred Zylstra won the 168-pound final in = 1970 in Ellensburg, according to Washington Interscholastic Activities Associati= on records.

Perry, who was pinned by Hoiness Jan. 12= at the Marysville Premier Tournament, was forced to wait more than 5 minutes to celebrate his victory while officials checked the scorebook.<= br>
"I didn't know what to think. I just wanted them to get it over with and either (have officials make them) wrestle or raise my hand," = said Perry, who completed the season with a 39-2 record.

In the chase for the team title, Lake Stevens scored 145 points and Graham-Kapowsin, which had three finalists comp= ete after the Vikings were finished wrestling, talli= ed 139.5.

Lake Stevens didn't clinch it until late in the evening, when Shorewood's Tim Hester beat Zach Folden of Grah= am-Kapowsin in the 189-pound final. Lake Stevens coach B= rent Barnes shook Hester's hand afterward.

"He might be in the (team championship) picture with us," Barnes joked.

The Vikings' latest team title was in doubt much longer than their p= ast triumphs.

"I've never had to sit in the stands and root for (other teams') kids to win some matches," said Barnes.

Lake Stevens prevailed even though its on= ly returning 2007 individual champ suffered an unexpected defeat. Zach Zweifel, last year's 103-pound winner, lost in the 112 semifinals and placed third.

3A tournament

Fueled by 285-pound finalist = Jake Anstett, the Everett Seagulls placed eighth in the 3A tourney. Six of Everett's seven participants placed in the top eight of their various divisions.

"We're young. We didn't expect this at all," Everett coac= h Brien Elliott= said.

The Seagulls peaked at the end of the season, Elliott said, and exceeded their team goal of finishing 10th. Everett's other top finishers were Cary Irwin (third, 152 pounds) and Alec Bird (fourth, 171).

Writer Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out= the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doub= leteam.