Blake Moore captured his second tournament title in as many weeks

and Jason Moe won his first varsity tournament to lead the Mount Si

Wildcat wrestling team to a second place finish at the 15 team Ellensburg

Invitational.

Moore dominated the competition at 135 pounds to push his

season record to 19-3. Giving up only nine points over four matches, the

senior `Cat demonstrated why he is considered one of the top in the state.

Winning his first match by 14-0, he continued into the finals with a 1:35

second pin in the quarterfinals and a complete overwhelming of Jose

Sanchez from Davis, 17-4 in the semis.

In the finals, Moore tangled with veteran Ernesto Tapia of

Eastmont, who had won two of his three matches by pin. In the finals Moore took

early control and never let up, scoring often and easily. The five points he

did give up appeared to be more of a gift than anything, as he mastered all

six minutes.

With a second at Kennedy, a third at Lake Stevens, and two

championships in the past two weeks, Moore appears focused and ready to finish

out the dual league season and head into a successful state tournament

competition.

After a season of near-misses and almosts, Jason Moe finally

delivered a sterling tournament victory at 119 pounds. Having wrestled up at

125 pounds at Wapato, Moe still earned a birth in the finals, but the

elusive championship again was just out of reach. Finishing a disappointing

fifth at Kennedy, Moe has seen steady improvement since, earning a

hard fought third place tie at Lake Stevens, and the second at Wapato. Finally

at Ellensburg in the largest team tournament of his career, he delivered.

Starting out unseeded, Moe demolished state veteran Sadler

of Ellensburg in an astonishing 11. After a 10-2 quarterfinal victory where

he gave up the initial take-down, the stage was set for a classic semifinal

duel with Jesse Kearney, the number one seed from Selah. Two weeks

before, Kearney himself had tied for third at the Lake Stevens tournament.

At Wapato, with Moe up at 125, Kearney had breezed into the 119 pound

finals, only to come up second to Moe. Finally, here at Ellensburg, the

two would settle things on the mat.

An early takedown by Kearney saw Jason in a 2-0 hole. Keeping

his cool, Moe secured a reversal to knot the score at two. After an escape

and a narrow 3-2 lead in the third, he kept feigning and handfighting, waiting

for another opportunity to score. With but seconds left, the Mount Si senior

saw his chance, earned his `take-down two,’ and advanced to the

tournament final.

In the finals, Moe kept his cool even after an initial takedown

by David Hayes of Stanwood. Going to work after that, he scored nine

points to captured the tournament championship by 9-4.

After losing to tournament champion Eric Duffy of Eastmont, 8-2

in the Semifinals, 140 pounder Hiram Tame came back with a hard won

6-5 decision over Steve Rasmussen of Cheney. Behind early and a victim

of a vicious crossface, Tame kept working, showing his stamina and

general mat smarts to gain the lead in the third and the victory. With a first

at Kennedy, Third at Lake Stevens, Second at Wapato and third at

Ellensburg, Tame has shown the stamina and consistency to advance deep into the

February tournaments.

Chad Mills lost a heartbreaking 3-2 OT decision in the semifinals.

Shooting an excellent double leg takedown early in the OT against Allen

Jensen of Rochester, Mills lifted his opponent high, but came down too quick

and hard and was assessed with a slam, giving Jensen the victory. The

Wildcat wrestled hard for the third/fourth place finish, but the disappointment

in his earlier defeat was clearly evident and he was defeated 9-2 by Chad

Douglas of Cascade (Everett).

Both Sean Sexton and Brad Conner had a successful day at

275 pounds. In a weight class where last year’s state champ was seeded

second, both `Cats knew that they would have to wrestle their best to

represent Mount Si on the victory podium.

Seeded number four, Sexton powered his way into the semi-finals

with two pins, only to meet Blake Falor of Cheney, who has already defeated

last year’s state champ twice this year. Keeping the match close and

scoring some nice escapes, Sexton had the match in doubt. Halfway through

the second period, he was unable to roll through and was pinned in 3:11. In

his match for third/fourth, Sexton was unable to solve Chris Koch of

West Valley (Yakima), losing 12-3.

In his first match, Brad Connors met the same fate by Falor, but

continued in the consolation rounds to fifth place. With a 2-2 tie after 5

minutes, Connors and Jesse Calderon of Cascade went into OT. Being the

last match of the night, a boisterous crowd shouted encouragement to both

obviously tired wrestlers. Though his first year of wrestling, Connor showed

a genuine maturity to capitalize on a Calderon mistake. Shucking his

man by and spinning secured a fifth place tie for the Mount Si junior.

Ben Veyna, 125 pounds, saw his first tournament action in two

weeks after injury, winning his first matches by easy pins over Cheney and

Jackson opponents. Against Jeremy McGee from Ellensburg, Ben

re-injured himself. Gamely trying to continue a match that he was winning

by a large margin, the state-runner-up was unable to defend himself from a

determined Bulldog and was pinned at 3:44. Forfeiting his third/fourth

place match, the Wildcat junior has set himself on recuperating for a state

run beginning in two weeks.

Kasey Robinson won a surprising but deserving fifth at 160 pounds.

Often down in his matches, Robinson was able to turn his fortunes and

pin two of his bewildered opponents. Losing only his first match 11-6, he

ended the day 3-1 against some impressive competition.

189 pound bruiser, Brad Davis, also went 3-1 on the day. With the

tournament format, this only earned a fifth place tie. However, with last

year’s state champ Brandon Bartell of Eastmont only winning 5-3 in the

finals, Davis showed that he can compete with any one at 189. With a

first, second, and two fifths over the last four tournaments, Davis has come

into his own as league winds down.

Dylan Seubert captured a fifth at 215. Meeting Mike Towner of

Selah for the third time in three weeks, Seubert was determined to

improve the score. At Lake Stevens, Towner had easily won by technical fall

over the Mount Si sophomore, and just the week before at Wapato, the

Selah wrestler had pinned Seubert. Down only 2-0 after one, Seubert kept

the match close throughout and a last second attempt at a takedown that

would have knotted the score instead ended up a takedown for Towner and a

10-6 victory. Knowing he had come far over the past two weeks, he went out

and easily pinned his Steilicum opponent for fifth.

David Crotts at 145 pounds, and Jed McDaniels at 171 both came

up one match short of placing, each going 2-2. Crotts was able to earn a

fantastic first round victory. Losing to Andy Hughes of Cascade by a

large in the third, Crotts turned the Bruin and pinned him at 5:02.

McDaniels met his nemesis Jose Baez of Selah for the third time in two weeks.

Like Seubert at 215, McDaniels was looking to make some vast

improvement. Unfortunately the Selah wrestler

still came out on top of the Wildcat junior 10-2.

Jordan Prior competed for Mount Si at 103, Andrew Ahmadi at 112,

and Ryan Smith at 152, with all three going 1-2 on the day.

Mount Si with a strong 157 points finished second, but well behind

Eastern Washington power Cheney Blackhawks with 182.5.

Beating Stanwood by nine, and other state powers Eastmont by twenty and

doubling up Ellensburg, Mount Si looks forward to the next two weeks

of league dual matches before the KingCo 3A tournament at

Liberty High School. On Wednesday the Wildcats tangled with Bellevue

before heading to Cedarcrest and the vastly improved Red Wolves led be

state placer Eric Pedefferi and coach Josh Garcia on Thursday.