The Mercer Island wrestling team received some unexpected motivation this week heading into regionals.
The one-point victory scored against Woodinville, which gave the Islanders the league title, was overturned thanks to a scoring error. The resulting loss took the championship away from the Islanders and gave it to Inglemoor.
But that disappointment fueled all the Mercer Island wrestlers, as seven qualified for the state meet, including 189-pound Colton Knebel and 145-pound Phil Frazier, who both took second overall.
“It is tough, but you have to move on,” said an emotional Islander coach Creighton Laughary. “These kids have worked really hard, especially the seniors.”
One senior who put his body on the line for a chance to compete at state was Graham Horgdal, and it paid off.
With a partially torn tendon in the right elbow, Horgdal competed with the use of just one arm and still finished third overall at 189 pounds.
“In all my years of wrestling, even when we won the KingCo title, this was the most exciting year because we were the underdogs,” said Horgdal. “It’s a good feeling to be a leader of a team with seven guys going to state.”
One of those guys made up for his 2008 run. Knebel entered the district meet as the No. 1 seed from KingCo, just as he did last year. But unlike his freshman season, when he finished sixth overall, Knebel dominated until the finals.
“There wasn’t much to learn from last year,” said Knebel. “It was just a crappy day. I am excited about state. I have been there every year since seventh grade. But this time I get to go down on the floor. I hear it is cold.”
Frazier shocked the field by making a run to the finals of the 145-pound weight class. The freshman never got his bearings during the finals but was never too far out, only trailing by two points during most of the match. Frazier was just one of many young Islanders who performed well.
Underclassman TJ Blackburn finished third in the 215-pound weight division, Blake Johnson finished fourth at 130 pounds, and Kyle Shanafelt took fourth at 119 pounds.
“It was a lot of hard work,” said Blackburn. “Getting seven guys to state really proves that we belong at the top of the division.”
David Bowman will also attend state as the No. 3 seed from Sea-King, as he won his semi-final match at 140 pounds.
Mercer Island resident and O’Dea wrestler JP Bruckner will also finished his final high school season at state after placing second in the heavy weight division.
“The last three years, I have wrestled at 215 pounds, so I was giving up some weight,” said Bruckner. “It is different being the small guy in your weight class. But I definitely think I will be on the podium next week, too.”
