South Whidbey junior 138-pounder Hunter Newman’s season came down to 43 seconds.

Leading 6-2 over Royal’s Addin Felker in the placers-round of the WIAA Mat Classic State Championships on Feb. 19, Newman was on the cusp of guaranteeing a top-eight finish.

But Felker reversed Newman and scored three near-fall points. Felker effectively rode out Newman for the remainder of the match and won, 7-6.

Afterwards, Newman escaped to where dozens of other dejected wrestlers found solitude in the Tacoma Dome behind some large curtains used prior to the tournament. His coaches didn’t see him for 30 minutes.

“He felt terrible,” Falcon head coach Jim Thompson said. “I know he went behind the curtains where they weigh in and just sat there. That’s where the kids go.”

After losing in the opening round to the eventual state champion, Granger’s Frankie Almaguer, Newman kept his season alive when he pinned James Bell of Columbia in 3 minutes and 49 seconds in the consolations bracket, a match which Thompson said he dominated. But losing the match which prevented him from joining an elite fraternity of South Whidbey wrestlers — those who have placed at the state tournament — made things pretty tough to swallow, he said.

“I was pissed that I gave that up,” Newman said. “It wasn’t anyone else’s fault but mine, I knew I could’ve placed and gone on and to the next day. It was just tough.”

Thompson said Newman was the Falcons’ best bet to place at the state tournament out of South Whidbey’s four competitors. That prediction proved to be true when freshman 120-pounder Aryeh Rohde, senior 160-pounder Madison Evans and junior 285-pounder Chase Barthlett were eliminated after two losses, though all faced top-ranked wrestlers in their first matches at state.

Rohde, after placing fourth at the 1A Region 1 tournament on Feb. 13., drew returning state champion TJ Baun of Colville in the first round. Baun pinned Rohde one minute into the first period. Baun would eventually finish in second place.

In the consolation bracket, Granger’s Isaac Guillen scored a fall on Rohde in the third period to end his season.

Evans was pinned by Deer Park’s Dean Lockwood in the first , and lost 13-5  to Castle Rock’s Chris Millward in the consolations.

Barthlett, a state alternate after placing fifth at the regional tournament, was entered into the tournament after a wrestler from South Whidbey’s region was unable to compete. He drew returning state finalist Tanner Cook of Kiona-Benton, who pinned Barthlett in 33 seconds. Barthlett was pinned in the second round by Freeman’s Joey Sims.

Though he was disappointed for Newman, Thompson was pleased by the added experience all three wrestlers will have next season.

“I was really happy they got there,” Thompson said. “For three of the kids, they’ve got one more year of experience being in a state level event. I’m expecting much better results next year.”

Barthlett has a greater sense for the level of competition at state having experienced it firsthand. He said he was intimidated and awed by the spectacle of the event, which draws an attendance of over 25,000 per year, during his first match. Barthlett was more proud of his second match because he said he wrestled more like himself.

His takeaways were to become stronger through offseason training.

“Thompson said to me, ‘Offseason, hit the weights,’” Barthlett said. “That’s what I want to do.”

He also noticed how much improvement he made over the course of the season when he watched videos of himself wrestling.

“I went home and watched all my film,” Barthlett said. “I watched my very first match and then the one I wrestled at state and I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve grown so much.’ ”

Though Newman wasn’t ranked in Washington Wrestling Report’s top-10 at 138 pounds, Thompson felt the returning state participant was deserving of a medal.

“He has to live with it,” Thompson said. “I just feel so bad for him, because he was one of the best eight wrestlers in the state, no doubt about it. And that’s what hurts. Now he’s got one year to reflect on that and use it as a motivation, and not let the one match define him.”

Newman finished with a 27-6 record.

“That’s what I looked forward to and worked so hard for all year just to get in that spotlight at state,” Newman said. “But, overall, it was a pretty decent season; had a few bumps here and there, but not bad.”