Meadowdale’s Tim Smith seems like a man on a mission.
The senior standout started out strong and finished strong during the first day of Mat Classic XXVII Friday at the Tacoma Dome.
Smith pinned Lincoln’s Will Willsey at the 3:09 mark of their 3A first round 220-pound match and then followed up with a decisive 13-0 victory over Southridge’s Mario Prado in the quarterfinals.
“It feels good,” Smith said of his two victories. “I still have a lot of work to do.”
That work involves facing the Washington Wrestling Report’s No. 1 ranked 3A contender, BJ Hawthorne of Lincoln, in Saturday’s semifinals. Hawthorne took fifth in the 182 division at state last year. The match is scheduled for 11:20 a.m., though nearly all of Friday’s matches got underway earlier than the published schedule.
The winner advances to face either Rogers of Spokane’s Markus Robinson or Auburn’s Mario Luevano in the finals set for 9 p.m.
Smith had a near perfect first day of wrestling.
“Getting pins and not giving up any points is kind of my goal in wrestling through this tournament,” he said.
Smith dominated Prado.
“I did my best to control the match,” Smith said. “I knew staying in good position that things are going to come to me.”
After he wrapped up the quarterfinals, Smith and his coaches had the opportunity to watch some of Hawthorne’s 3-0 victory over Eastside Catholic’s Connor Heger.
“It’s going to be a good match,” Smith predicted. “He looks athletic.”
Teammate Colton Davis rebounded from a tough 7-6 loss to North Central’s Izaec Quintanilla in the quarterfinals to beat North Central’s Chance LeBlanc 13-6 to advance in the 160 consolation bracket.
Davis opened with a 10-1 victory over Prairie’s Miguel Avila-Leal in the first round but then ran into a tough opponent in Quintanilla, who came into the tournament as the top ranked 3A 160-pounder.
Davis wrestled from behind for much of the match and trailed 6-2 early in the third period. The Meadowdale senior, however, rallied to cut the deficit to 7-6 as time ran out.
Meadowdale sophomore Liam Ball (170) went 1-2 in his first appearance at the state meet. Lynnwood’s Reald Markokaj (170) and Melvin Zepeda (220) both lost their two matches. Mountlake Terrace senior Taron Castleton (145) went 1-2.
– By David Pan
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