Tahoma vs Auburn

Wednesday night Tahoma strolled onto the Auburn Trojans home mat for another duel on their way to an undefeated season and another dual meet champion’s title. The Bears battle with the Trojans was very favorable, and in turn led to another victory once again started out by returning state champion Joey Palmer setting the tone. In his match, Palmer recorded four takedowns in a mere thirty seconds against Auburn's Christian Loomis, all before recording the pin in under ninety seconds. The match was going in a roller coaster fashion after that match, going up and down. The next two bouts weren’t as favorable for Tahoma after two very close matches that went for Auburn in 2-8 and 2-3 decisions. But Tahoma recovered and recovered fast, chalking up six pins in the next ten matches and only losing one match in that span. That upturn closed off any chance Auburn had at causing an upset, and scratched up a 59-9 win for Tahoma and increased the momentum for their big battle on Friday night in the Battle of the Bone against returning 3A state champions, Enumclaw.

Tahoma vs Enumclaw

Friday evening Tahoma's seniors ran for the bone, a full sized cow femur that is rested atop a trophy for the winning team to take home and paint the bone their school color. Tahoma (7-0 in dual meets) was rated Number 1 in the state in Class 4A, and Enumclaw (now 6-1) was ranked Number 1 in 3A. The Bears left little doubt about which team was better on Senior Night in front of a "blackout" near-capacity crowd. The Bears finished their home dual meet schedule undefeated and honored those seniors who got them to where they are in the rankings and in the wrestling room. On Friday the bone arrived at Tahoma for the first time since 2008 and was brought by Enumclaw. The two teams squared off in a battle that was looked at as the best match-up the state had to offer this season, and the battle these two teams brought proved that to be a fact. The stage was set for a duel to remember and it lived up to be exactly that. The battle began at 126 and flew from there, with Enumclaw earning the first pin of the night and bringing the crowd into the duel for the rest of the night as it got loud and rowdy on Friday. This duel was expected to be a very close match, which was going to come down to bonus points, earning the pin instead of the decisions; and this proved to be exactly right when Steven Hopkins hit the mat. Steven went out and proved his dominance of the state, making his match look easy when he put Enumclaw’s senior, Reano, on his back in the second round and ended it there tying the team score at six. The next battle was thought by many as the match of the night, pitting two defending state champions head to head between Joey Palmer and Lucas Somera, with Somera coming down to his post season weight to get after Palmer. This was expected to go to the end, but Palmer had something to say about that. Joey went out and wrestled whistle to whistle pushing Somera to his breaking point, and with his speed Palmer picked apart Lucas, displaying his signature style on his feet. Joey put up a quick lead on Lucas with shot after shot and broke him mentally giving Joey the chance to finish, and he did just that, earning the 24-9 tech fall of a fellow state champion. Tanner Mjelde increased the Bears lead with a pin in less than two minutes over the Hornets' Cole Snider at 145. Todd Link and Austin Perry both aided in Tahoma’s success of the evening, with a decision and pin, respectively.

The duel continued strong for Tahoma, but with Enumclaw biting their ankles, keeping things close until the duel made it to Matt Hopkins’ match against a true rival, T.J. Comier. Hopkins and Cormier were 1-1 against each other this year. Matt and T.J. went back and forth in the first round working inside, taking shot after shot but with the talent levels of these two wrestlers, the first round was scoreless. Hopkins had choice and picked bottom, earning a quick stand up, Matt took the lead and made it grow scoring on a takedown, winning 3-0 giving Tahoma the momentum to roll on to the bone in a 48-18 win over the top ranked 3A team in the state. To quote Steve Fraser, “If we want to be the best in the state, country or world then we must be able to grind when we have to. And trust me, you WILL have to.’ Tahoma did just that on Friday and we are all thankful to the family, friends, and community for supporting us. What a GREAT show of support. Tahoma kept their win streak alive the next day with two big wins over Mt. Rainier and Auburn Riverside, earning them their fourth straight dual meet championship. Mark your calendars for the 2012 South Puget Sound League 4A North Division Wrestling Tournament at Kent-Meridian High School, beginning February 3 at 4:30 p.m. & again on February 4 at 10 a.m.