AAA State Wrestling Tournament -- Auburn Wins First Boys State Crown

TACOMA - Ben Celver finally fell last night.

Fell in love, that is.

"It's beautiful," Celver said after joining Auburn teammate Mark Morris as a two-time champion in the Class AAA state wrestling tournament. "I'm so happy. That's great. My last high school season, a two-time state champion and now we've got a state team championship, the first boys championship ever.

"Gorgeous. I'm in love."

Auburn achieved its season-long goal in style, passing Moses Lake in the final round after trailing by a half-point going into the championship bouts. Auburn totaled 123 1/2 points; Moses Lake had 112.

Morris' victory at 129 wound up being the clincher, putting the Trojans ahead 115 1/2-112. Moses Lake lost all hope when James Zane lost the 135-pound title to Olympic's Ty Smith, also a champion at 122 last year. The Chiefs' only other finalist, Donny Anderson at 108, had also lost.

That took some pressure off Celver, who beat John Aiken of Olympic 3-1. His anticipated showdown with University's Dusty Roberts, last year's 135-pound champ, didn't materialize as Aiken dumped Roberts in the semifinals.

Celver's victory upped his team's total to 119 1/2, but the Trojans weren't done yet. Dennis Herren also won a title - his first title at 178 in a wild match against Mead's Troy Hughes. Herren's takedown in the final 10 seconds, after nearly getting put on his back, gave him a 7-5 victory

Morris and Celver are Auburn's first two-time champions. All three are seniors.

Sammamish senior Nigel Steere also took home a state crown, winning the 122-pound title to become the school's first champion since 1968.

"I didn't really think it would happen," said Steere (28-1). "I guess I wrestled my best when I didn't expect it."

Everett's Otto Olson, third at 135 last season, went all the way this time around, beating Joe Evans of Redmond in the 148-pound final. Kentwood's Dave Richardson finally put together the kind of tournament he'd been looking for to win the 101-pound championship after failing to place last year.

"In junior high, I was always seeded first and came out second," Richardson said. "Last year, I got second in a lot of tournaments. This year, I won everything besides one (sub-regionals."

At the other end of the spectrum, Kentwood teammate Bryan LaBelle wrestled for the heavyweight title against Tumwater's Chris Villalobos in a showdown of unbeatens.

Morris got off to a slow start in his final match against Wenatchee's Brian Van Hoven and later admitted he was nervous because Van Hoven had beaten him in a freestyle match last year. But e came back strong to win 6-1. His reward?

"I'm going to eat a big, juicy, 20-ounce steak, something I haven't been able to have all year," he said.

The stakes have been high for Auburn all season. After last year's fourth-place finish, the Trojans hungered for the title.

"We put together a tough, tough schedule," Bliss said. "And we weren't afraid to say, `Our goal is to win the state championship, that's what we want to do, and if we don't we'll be disappointed.' It gave this group confidence. From the beginning, we said we wanted to win the state championship. Nothing else mattered."

Moses Lake became only the third AAA team in tournament history to score 100 points and not win the title. But the Chiefs have had plenty of those - 12, in fact. This was their 10th runner-up finish.

Auburn got key consolation points from Dan Anic (101), Jonny Hess (148) and Brian Criddle (190) after they fell in the semifinals. Anic and Hess came back to finish third and Criddle wound up fifth.

Kentwood teammate Bryan LaBelle lost the heavyweight title to Tumwater's Chris Villalobos, 5-3 in overtime. Both were unbeaten.

Team scores - 1, Auburn 123 1/2; 2, Moses Lake 112; 3, Olympic 76; 4, Kentwood 69; 5, Wenatchee 65; 6, South Kitsap 60; 7, Oak Harbor 59; 8, Mead 54; 9, (tie) Tumwater and University 53; 11, Snohomish 48; 12, Davis (Yakima) 35; 13, North Central 34; 14, Bethel 32; 15, (tie) Cascade (Everett) and Sammamish 31; 17, Columbia River 30 1/2; 18, Everett 29; 19, Shadle Park 25 1/2; 20, Central Valley 25; 21, Kentridge 22; 22, Lakes 21 1/2; 23, Battle Ground 21; 24, Newport 20; 25, (tie) Inglemoor and Wilson; 27, (tie) Curtis and Redmond; 29, (tie) Bellarmine, Federal Way and Kent-Meridian 15; 32, Gonzaga Prep 14; 33, Marysville-Pilchuck 13 1/2; 34, (tie) Hudson's Bay, Rogers (Spokane) and Richland 13; 37, Fort Vancouver 12; 38, (tie) Mount Tahoma and Lewis & Clark 10; 40, Eisenhower 8 1/2; 41, Lake Washington 7; 42, Timberline 6; 43, (tie) Evergreen (Vancouver), Central Kitsap and Kamiakin 5; 36, (tie) Kelso, Prairie, Kennewick, Juanita, Puyallup and Jefferson 4; 52, Woodinville 3; 53, (tie) Sumner and Issaquah 2; 55, (tie) Spanaway Lake and Clover Park 1. No score - Edmonds-Woodway, Rogers (Puyallup), Lincoln, Mountlake Terrace, Bellevue, North Kitsap, North Thurston, Walla Walla and Bothell. (Decatur and Mountain View each finished with -1).

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

101 - Dave Richardson, Kentwood dec. Craig Johnson, Olympic, 7-2. 108 - Andy Roberts, University, dec. Donny Anderson, Moses Lake, 11-5. 115 - Tuan Nguyen, South Kitsap, dec. Jason Conley, North Central, 5-1. 122 - Nigel Steere, Sammamish, dec. Eddie Velazquez, Wenatchee, 6-1. 129 - Mark Morris, Auburn, dec. Brian Van Hoven, Wenatchee, 6-2. 135 - Ty Smith, Olympic, dec. James Zane, Moses Lake, 9-2. 141 - Ben Celver, Auburn, dec. John Aiken, Olympic, 3-1. 148 - Otto Olson, Everett, maj. dec. Joe Evans, Redmond, 8-2. 158 - Josh Morton, Mead, dec. Luke Bindriff, Columbia River, 8-6. 168 - Dave Herzog, Davis, dec. Nathan Nicholet, Bethel, 7-2. 178 - Dennis Herren, Auburn, dec. Troy Hughes, Mead, vs. 7-5. 190 - Craig Pointer, Shadel Park, dec. Josh Jones, Central Valley, 8-2. Hvy - Chris Villalobos, Tumwater, dec. Bryan LaBelle, Kentwood, 5-3 (OT).

THIRD-FOURTH PLACES

101 - Dan Anic, Auburn, dec. Tony Vehrs, Moses Lake, 4-0. 108 - Mike Mertel, Kentridge, dec. Jason Ceccoli, Battle Ground, 6-2. 115 - Ryan Valdez, Oak Harbor, dec. Nelson Crisanto, Wenatchee, 6-2. 122 - Eli Zamora, Moses Lake, dec. Colin Giboney, Kentwood, 9-7, OT. 129 - Doug Bardsley, Snohomish, dec. Shane Allen, Richland, 6-4, OT. 135 - Greg Reiser, Wilson, dec. Rick Baker, Bethell, 5-0. 141 - Dusty Roberts, University Prep, dec. Han-Suk Chang, Lakes, 17-6. 148 - Jonny Hess, Auburn, dec. Scott Garcia, University Prep, 11-4. 158 - Dan Haskins, Snohomish, dec. Jess Carkner, Bellarmine Prep, 6-4. 168 - J.D. Cowan, Tumwater, dec. Dan Williams, South Kitsap, 9-4. 178 - Tony Carr, Inglemoor, dec. Joe Pence, Gonzaga Prep, 6-3. 190 - Gareth Ritz, Newport, dec. Ryan MacMichael, Curtis, 10-4. Hvy - Brian Haug, Cascade, dec. Mat Orndorf, Kent-Meridian, 5-3.

FIFTH-SIXTH PLACES

101 - Mike Phaisanti, Marysville-Pilchuck, dec. Daryl Groom, North Central, 15-3. 108 - Steve Mandell, Fort Vancouver, dec. Andy Campbell, Tumwater, 13-0. 115 - Carey Nall, Hudson's Bay, dec. Kye Way, Moses Lake, 7-5, OT. 122 - Chris Stratton, Oak Harbor, pinned Ryan Roth, Battle ground, 3:47. 129 - Kurt Karjalainen, Oak Harbor, pinned Dean Giboney, Kentwood, 2:54. 135 - Brad Hawkins, Wenatchee, dec. Brian Lawrence, Sammamish, 5-4. 141 - Kevin Taylor, Davis, won by injury default over Stefan Robinson. 148 - Haven Baker, Moses Lake, dec. J.T. Pidduck, Olympia, 2-1. 158 - Jaimie Kelly, South Kitsap, dec. Joey Hughes, Lake Washington, 12-2. 168 - Adam Sampson, Oak Harbor, won by injury default over Paul Brice, Mount Tahoma. 178 - Shawn Varick, South Kitsap, dec. John Day, Columbia River. 190 - Brian Criddle, Auburn, technical fall over Dion Vondal, Rogers (Spokane), 3:16. Hvy - Mac Smith, Federal Way, pinned John Lamb, Mead, 1:55.