Woodinville’s Zach Lipana takes Eastlake’s Trevor McKinnon for a ride during his KingCo finals’ win. Photo by Don Mann.
Eleven Falcons placed among the top five in the two-day tourney, enabling Woodinville to bring home the team title with 193 points, two more than Lake Washington, which had four individual champions.
It was Lipana’s pin of Eastlake’s Trevor McKinnon at 2:15, in fact, that sealed the deal, sending Falcon coaches flying across the mat in celebration as the team title was clinched.
"I’m just so proud of Zach," head coach Shaker Culpepper said. "You’re talking about a kid who didn’t even turn out as a sophomore, wrestled JV as a junior, and never won a tournament until today. If he doesn’t pin his man, we don’t win the championship — it was awesome."
Fennell dominated Ty Morton of Issaquah, 12-1, to capture his crown.
Overall for the Falcons, Kevin Komata placed fourth; Matt Rieke fifth; Brady Olson second; Riley Hersey fifth; Ian Stemmerman third; Gus DeGrandis third; Lee Rodewald third; Carl Gaul fifth, and happy-go-lucky R.J. Harris came in fourth at 285.
"What’s really neat is that even though wrestling is an individual sport, we won this thing as a team," Culpepper said. "The guys pulled together for this tournament — we had some team adrenaline going and they were so focused mentally. I really enjoyed the way they were hanging as a group, supporting their teammates on the mat."
Joah Fennell, left, works Issaquah’s Ty Morton en route to his KingCo title. Photo by Don Mann.
Inglemoor’s Jake Lowe and Travis Bogard had tough nights: The heavily favored Vikings both lost by injury default. Lowe never took the mat but Bogard did, and the big fellow, after two quick pins in the tourney, twisted his knee awkwardly in the finals and went down in a heap.
It was a frightening moment for Bogard, who recently signed on with the University of Wyoming for a football full-ride as a defensive lineman.
But perhaps 10 minutes later, he was on his feet, though his high school wrestling career might be over.
"He’s a great wrestler and a great kid," Culpepper said. "But with all that is at stake for him, I’d be very surprised if he wrestles again.
"He hurt that same knee earlier and missed a few matches."
Regionals begin next Saturday at Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way.
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