RENTON – Kyle Heath, at 103 pounds, led the Mount Si wrestling team to Liberty last Saturday for the Kingco 3A tournament and came home a champion. His team also brought home four second-place finishes, one third, three fourth-place finishes, one fifth and one sixth. But the Wildcats, who took second in the league during the season behind Mercer Island, took third at the tournament with a score of 166 points, behind Issaquah’s 189.5 and the Islanders’ 223.

Heath, a sophomore, defeated Lyle Ratcliffe of Issaquah in the championship winning by pin 34 seconds into the second round.

“Earlier that year I didn’t pin Ratcliffe so I was glad to get the pin this time,” said Heath. “I just wrestled smarter and knew what to do,” Heath added.

It was Heath’s first league championship and earned him a top seed to the district tournament to be held this coming Saturday in Sedro Woolley.

“I knew Kyle wasn’t going to have too much of a problem,” said coach Jeff Newcomer. “His technique is good and he is solid. He turned the corner at Sequim and figured out how to wrestle against guys who compete at the district and state levels,” Newcomer added.

Four Wildcat wrestlers will join Heath at the district tournament as second-place seeds. Leading the list are seniors Pano Dreves at 171 pounds and Trevor Moore at 215 pounds. Moore lost to the Islanders’ Jesse Johnson in the championship round in a very close 5-4 match. Prior to Johnson, Moore had pinned Newport’s Doug Hollenbeck in the third round and Liberty’s Jeff Anderson in the second round.

Dreves lost to Issaquah’s Matt Glenn in the championship round by pin, midway through the third round. Prior to his match with Glenn, Dreves had defeated Josh Abergel of Sammamish 14-8 and Mercer Island’s Derek Baer by pin near the end of the second round.

Another senior, Mike Montgomery, also took second at the league tourney. Montgomery faced Mercer Island’s Greg Jones at 125 pounds in the championship round. Jones won by a 10-8 overtime decision to take the championship. Montgomery had defeated the Totems’ Aram Ikilikyan by pin at the 3:28 mark and Interlake’s Ricky Smidt 10-4.

Sophomore Mac Donnell was the last Wildcat to make it to the championship round. He fell to Issaquah’s Ryan O’Neill at 152 pounds in a close 10-9 match. Donnell had wrestled strong through the first two rounds of the tournament by defeated Liberty’s Adam Bailey by pin early in the third round along with a 13-5 decision over Bellevue’s Kurtis Santillanes. Donnell will travel to Sedro Woolley as the No. 2 Kingco seed.

The last Wildcat to solidify his entry into the district tournament Saturday was Joe Taklo, a sophomore, who took third at the league tournament in the 119-pound class. Taklo defeated Robin Sohn of Newport by pin in his first-round match. He then lost to the eventual 119-pound champion, Islander Sean Embly, by pin near the end of the match. Taklo secured his district spot by defeating Mercer Island’s Austin Frazier in the consolation bracket and then defeating Issaquah’s Drew Mermel by pin early in the second round.

Three Wildcat wrestlers will travel to the district meet as alternates. Sophomore Dex Moetulvi lost to Bellevue’s Paco Ward by pin to take fourth in the tournament at the 275-pound class. Another sophomore, Jay Dochnahl, lost to the Islanders’ Dan Rock in the 140-pound class 8-2 to take fourth place. Kenny Morrison, also a sophomore, lost to Mercer Island’s Collin Sedlacek 8-4 in the 160-pound class for a fourth-place finish.

Two other Mount Si wrestlers placed in the league tournament. Sophomore Dan Wright placed fifth in the 130-pound class after defeating the Totems’ Sreng Ngor 15-4, and sophomore Jack Stinnett placed sixth in the 189-pound class after falling to Newport’s Matt Carlson in the consolation finals.

In addition to a solid appearance at the league tournament, Newcomer was once again honored as coach of the year, an honor he again shared with Mercer Island coach Paul Jackson.

“I really didn’t expect it this year,” said Newcomer. “I voted for Mike Chenowith at Newport because he has done some great things with that program.”

Mount Si travels to Sedro Woolley to compete at the district meet Saturday.