Ng leads six local wrestlers into Mat Classic

"Lawrence Ng will lead a contingent of six Central Kitsap School District wrestlers to this weekend's Mat Classic XIII state championships at the Tacoma Dome.Ng, a third-place finisher at the Dome last year, will be the No. 1 seed at 103 pounds at this weekend's massive state tournament, which includes schools from all five size classifications. He's coming off a Region 3 championship which he won last weekend at Evergreen High School in Vancouver.Four Central Kitsap wrestlers and one each from Olympic and Klahowya earned Mat Classic berths with top-four finishes in their respective regionals.Bremerton was shut out, however, as 160-pounder Larry Kimmons - a state participant as a junior last year - suffered an ankle injury during his semifinal match at Vancouver and was unable to continue.Ng was one of two local matmen to make the Region 3 finals, where he beat Kelso's Kelly Austreng 13-5. The other, Garrett Jackson at 189 pounds, was pinned by Rogers' Luke Kobes - the same wrestler who also beat him in the finals of the SPSL-Olympic subregional tournament the previous weekend. CK's Scott Eickmeyer (125) and Jason Mendez (130) both advanced after third-place regional finishes.Cunanan went to Vancouver as an alternate after finishing out of the subdistrict money, but took advantage of an opening at 112 pounds and went 2-2, good for fourth place and a state berth.We're taking one we weren't planning on taking, said Olympic coach Darryl Smith, and a couple others we thought would go are staying home.Two of Oly's other regional entrants, Ryan Wheeler (119) and Mitch Urrutia (140) finished fifth and will be Mat Classic alternates.Ng opens his quest for a state title Friday at 11 a.m. against Ko Brudvick of Edmonds-Woodway. Jackson must wait until 1:30 p.m. for his first match, which pits him against Auburn-Riverside's Jason Victor.Eickmeyer takes on Matt Krier of Cascade in his tournament opener at 11:40 a.m., while Mendez debuts against Kasey Cundy of Mountlake Terrace at noon. Cunanan meets Luke Kahn of Gonzaga Prep at 11:20 a.m.In the Class 2A portion of the tournament, Klahowya's Tom Meier is matched against second-seeded Justin Larsson of Hoquiam. Meier won his way to Mat Classic with a fourth-place finish in last weekend's Region 1 tourney at Mountlake Terrace. "

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