Behind another strong showing from its senior captains, Mercer Island wrestling finished second at the 3A KingCo tournament Saturday, Feb. 7 at Skyline High School. The Islanders finished with a team score of 226. Regular season champs Bellevue won the meet, scoring 241.
The Islanders boasted champions in four weight classes, and it was their usual list of suspects scoring the wins. Taylan Yuasa took the 113 title, pinning Interlake’s Albert Chen. Scott Lee won the 132 title, pinning Lake Washington’s Bilal Khilfeh. Trevor Gullstad won the 138 championship, pinning Juanita’s Shannon Smith, and Evan Condon took the 195 title, pinning Interlake’s Jon Palgashvili.
Mercer Island also had runners-up in three divisions. Finn Childress took second place at 152, Nic Meinzinger-Richards was second at 160 and Teague Frazier was runner-up at 182.
Jonah Andrews took third at 106, Kyle Hsu scored a 14-2 decision over Lake Washington’s Jacob Smith to place third at 152, and Russell Asmus took third at 182. Malachi Morgan was fourth at 160, Brian Wen was fourth at 170 and Dylan Majewski was fourth at 285, with teammate Hayden Gaddis taking fifth. Piljin Kwak was sixth at 120, and Vinny Ricci was sixth at 126.
Just before a Wednesday practice prior to Saturday’s tournament, the Islander senior captains expressed their high expectations for the postseason this year.
“Ever since I walked into the wrestling room in seventh grade when (Lee) convinced me to wrestle, it’s been my dream to win a high school state championship,” Yuasa said. “This is my last shot after my knee injury last year in the semis. Hopefully, we can make that happen.”
“At the level all four of us are competing, all four of us have the goal of winning a state championship,” Lee said. “Whether it happens or not, it’s about shooting high enough that you think you can [do it]. I think all four of us have a chance of getting up on the podium.”
“We’re all looking to finish strong, to finish as champions no matter what the result is,” Gullstad said. “We’re going to go out there and wrestle like somebody who deserves to win.”
“Our coach says all the time, ‘it’s all about winning that last match of the day,” Condon added. “Hopefully, we can all do that together and finish out our senior year on a high note.”
Mercer Island will compete at the 3A boys regional wrestling tournament Saturday, Feb. 13-14 at Kelso High School.