Five Falcon wrestlers headed to the Mat Classic state finals

James Schorr won the regional championship in his 160-pound weight class at the regionals in Mount Vernon Saturday.

Schorr will join teammates Aaron Mannie (152), Trapper Rawls (285), Darrin Britton (215) and Jordan Broyles (171) in Tacoma for the Mat Classic state wrestling finals on Friday.

In other words, the Big Time for high school wrestling — 24 mats and 48 wrestlers before 5,000 anxious fans.

The last time Schorr faced Bellingham’s Riley Mullet, he lost, so this match was all the sweeter.

“It was a nice redemption for James,” said Falcon coach Jim Thompson.

Schorr said his third match wasn’t the toughest, just the most important.

“The final was hard but Mullet made a bad choice enabling me to start in the down position in the third round, always an advantage,” he said. “I reversed him and won 6-1 but couldn’t pin him.”

Mannie was paired again with Sultan’s Abe Bray.

“It went into overtime and I had only 30 seconds to get out from under him. We were both really tired and he thought I’d won,” Mannie said.

Blaine’s Shane Hicks got the better of Rawls.

“Shane has a strong undergrip and I couldn’t throw him,” Rawls recalled.

Britton went the full three rounds but Archbishop Murphy’s Zeke Evers was on a roll.

“He got a takedown on me,” Britton said. “That’s all it took but I made life hard for him.”

Broyles took fourth and travels to Tacoma as an alternate, his first time.

“I was glad to go the distance in my match but that guy from Sehome was good. I’m excited to be going with the team, though,” he said.

Thompson and assistant coach Paul Newman said the five Falcon grapplers are the cream of the crop.

“And you’ll be facing the cream from the other schools so stay focused,” Newman told them.

Blaine High School won this year’s team championship at regionals.

Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or sports@south

whidbeyrecord.com.

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