Mat Classic 36: Lakeside’s Myles Christen caps prep career with first title, 5 win in 1B/2B boys tournament

TACOMA – Myles Christen understands that sometimes you just get beat by a better wrestler.

That’s what happened last year to the Lakeside standout when he lost in the State 1A 144-pound final to Toppenish’s Kiyanno Zuniga.

“Second place is all that I’ve been telling myself in the last year of training,” Christen said. “Even though he was the better wrestler last year, second place just didn’t sit right with me and that made me push harder to not find myself in that position again.”

But on Saturday night, Christen knew that it was his turn to be the best wrestler on the mat.

With Zuniga up in the 2A ranks, Christen ran through the 150-pound bracket, finishing with a 4-1 over Wapato’s Federico Apodaca to claim his first state title at Mat Classic 36 in the Tacoma Dome.

“My performance this weekend was great, but personally I know I could have pinned a few more of these guys because I am a pinner and a finisher,” Christen said. “But I just had a change in mentality to focus on what I do best and keep myself out of danger.”

Christen, who also won titles this year at the Deer Park Invitational, Mat Animal Invitational and was second at Tri-State, said that reaching the top step of the podium in his senior year was made even more special by representing a Lakeside team that means so much to him.

“Looking back to when my brother wrestled here and watching from the stands, it means so much to be able to get this win for my team and for our amazing community,” he said.

Redemption was a popular theme among area wrestlers in the night’s finals for the five tournaments – 2A, 1A and 2B/1B boys, along with 2A and 1A/2B/1B girls.

In the 2B/1B boys ranks, Liberty senior Maddex Strobel bounced back from his second-place finish a year ago to claim the 150-pound final with a 16-1 technical fall over Goldendale’s Storey Woodbury.

“I just kept thinking of when my brother won a state title two years ago and how close I came last year,” Strobel said. “This has just been everything I could have dreamed of and it’s really just the perfect end result.”

Chewelah’s Dekota Acosta also avenged his title-match loss from last year – topping Liberty’s Joey Matherly 12-1 at 175, and Noah Butler of Almira/Coulee-Hartline took the final step to the top of the podium with an overtime victory at 215.

Acosta’s victory helped lead the Cougars to a fifth-place finish, while Newport was seventh.

District tournament rematches were also prevalent in the 2B/1B boys ranks. Along with Acosta’s victory, Davenport’s Brock Gustaveson won his second consecutive title with a technical fall over Newport’s Area Swain at 190, and Lind-Ritzville’s Brock Tracy toppled Kettle Falls’ Kaden Hippler at 285.

“I was fired up tonight with how I’d wrestled all tournament and I was out for blood,” Gustaveson said. “It’s definitely a mental game when you wrestle a guy several weeks in a row, but you just have to keep the mind on the end goal and that’s what I was able to do today.”

In the 1A boys tournament, Riverside’s Bodey Schweiger started off the night with a bang – claiming a 4-1 overtime victory at 106 for his first state title.

“My mentality is 100% the difference from last year,” Schweiger said about his fourth-place finish last year. “I was just nervous going into matches and thought of it as an accomplishment just getting to state. But this year I knew that once I got here I was ready to go and win it.”

Lakeside was the top-scoring 1A boys team in 13th place. The Deer Park boys – paced by Gavin Carnahan’s second-place finish at 138 – was fifth in 2A boys.

• Although only two area girls marched their way to the 1A/2B/1B championship finals, both walked off the mat with their hands held in the air.

After falling short in last year’s final, Republic-Curlew senior Evelyn Phillips finally claimed her first state championship at 135 with a pin of Royal’s Lauren Jenks at 3 minutes, 36 seconds.

“When I lost last year, I knew that I wanted to get back here and be a champion and I knew it was going to take everything I had,” Phillips said. “I got into freestyle and Greco wrestling in the offseason for the first time and just got to work.”

Reardan’s Danika Bretz will also head home a champion after pinning Granger’s Sonia Mendoza in the third period of the 170 final.

Republic-Curlew finished 10th in the 1A/2B/1B girls standings, while Deer Park was the top area squad in 2A girls at 15th.