Three Falcon Wrestlers Headed to State

Three Woodinville wrestlers placed in the top-5 of their weight classes at the 4A Region II wrestling championships this past weekend and will be competing this weekend in the Mat Classic state championships this weekend at the Tacoma Dome.

AJ Dedios, Jake Hollister, and Jason Burrough (all juniors) each overcame early losses to rebound and finish fifth, fourth and third, respectively.

Dedios (119 pounds) suffered two losses in bracket play, but rebounded with a 6-4 victory in the 5/6 match to secure the final 119-pound state bid from the region.

Hollister took fourth in the 215-pound division after falling to eventual champion Mikey Ramos in his first match.

Burrough placed third in the 285-pound division, after a last-second take down gave him a 3-2 win in the 3/4 match.

"Jason throws a hand-and-arm and the two guys trip and Burroughs jumps on top for the take-down and 2 points," wrestling coach Shaker Culpepper said of the comeback win.

All three will face tough competition in the first round of the Mat Classic. Dedios is matched up with second-ranked (according to washingtonwrestlingreport.com) and defending state champion Steven Hopkins of Tahoma. Hopkins cruised to three victories in the 4A Region III championships to take first place.

Hollister also gets a top-two opponent, squaring off against Dylan Rutledge of Auburn. Rutledge is also a defending state champ.

Burrough may have the most evenly-matched first-round opponent in Kyle Lanque of Central Kitsap. Lanque, who finished second in his regional, is ranked seventh in the 4A division, while Burrough is ranked 14th.

The mere fact that these three are in the state tournament is a surprise, even to their coach.

"If you would have asked me at the beginning of the year who would be going to State, I have to say that I thought it would be a different group of young men," Culpepper said.

But after an injury forced senior Riley Hersey to cut his season short and several other seniors decided not to wrestle, the junior trio stepped into leading roles and have ended up on the biggest stage.

"Our motto this year has been “Carpe e Diem” (seize the day), because you just never know what tomorrow will hold and these 3 guys have done that," Culpepper said.

The Mat Classic begins February 18th at the Tacoma Dome, To see full brackets, click here.