CWAC stars go back-to-back

Prosser senior Jaimez wins at 119, Top-Hi’s Romero follows with title at 125 ||

TACOMA, Wash. — Prosser senior Osmar Jaimez wanted to go out in style, and Toppenish junior Julian Romero wanted to go out quickly.

Both got their wish Saturday night, winning back-to-back Class 2A state titles on the prime-time stage at Mat Classic XXII in the Tacoma Dome.

Jaimez capped a 28-0 season by beating a defending state champion in the 119-pound final, and Romero needed little more than a minute to pin his way to the 125 title.

Prosser High School's Osmar Jaimez, right, beat Deer Park's Blake Adams in the championship match of the 119-pound class in the Washington state high school wrestling tournament Feb. 20, 2010. (Gordon King/Yakima Herald-Republic)

A state placer as a freshman and junior, Jaimez was a scoring machine en route to the finals, piling up 58 points in three matches, including an 18-6 semifinal win. But in the title match against ’09 champ Blake Adams of Deer Park, he geared down for a defensive battle

Leading 3-1 through two periods, Jaimez broke it open in the final minute with takedown and near-fall points for a 7-2 victory. It was a sweet end for a senior who struggled with a knee injury at the start of the season.

“I thought it would be like a one-point match, but I’ve been on the offensive the whole time here,” he said. “This was my goal, and it’s especially great because I had a tough start with the knee.”

With an aggravated rib and abdominal injury, Romero was fortunate to hold on in his semifinal for 13-12 victory. Taped up and sore for the final, Romero was hoping to end things quickly and he did, pinning Hockinson’s Jake Kreglo in 1:10.

“I’ve been dealing with the injury all season, so I was a little concerned,” admitted Romero, who was last year’s state runner-up at 119. “But I felt great otherwise. I got this far last year and I didn’t want to be second again.”

Romero (32-3) became Toppenish’s 24th state champion, second-best in the Valley to Sunnyside.

Selah’s Chris Rowe (145) and East Valley’s Mason Yates (135) took only one loss each — in the semifinals and quarterfinals, respectively — but the two seniors were unbeaten in the consolations en route to third-place medals.

Led by Romero, Toppenish’s four placers pushed the Wildcats up to sixth on the final board with 65 points. It was the program’s fifth straight top-10 finish.

CLASS 3A

Sunnyside’s Barajas runner-up at 285

TACOMA, Wash. — Sunnyside’s Jose Barajas was a pinning monster in the Class 3A tournament, throwing and slamming his way into the 285-pound championship final. None of his three advancing matches reached the third period.

But in the final, the junior heavyweight ran into a monster with a bigger bite.

Juanita’s Cody Treddenbarger pinned Barajas in 46 seconds, his third fall of the tournament that took less than a minute. In all, Treddenbarger wrestled for just 2 minutes, 52 seconds in his four pins.

Still, for Barajas it was a breakthrough performance. Despite no state experience, he advanced with pins of 3:15, 1:25 and 3:51 and finished the season with a 34-2.

Teammate Nathan Gonzalez, a state runner-up last year as a freshman, settled for fourth in the 103 bracket. He was 4-2 for the tournament, both losses coming against Renton junior Aaron Garcia — 7-3 in the quarterfinals and 3-0 in the final for third and fourth.

After losing his 189 opener on Friday, West Valley’s Dylan Foster won four of his next five matches to secure fifth place, finishing with a hard-fought 3-2 decision in the placing final. Foster’s two losses were both to Mercer Island’s Colton Knebel, who finished third.

CLASS 4A

Pirates claim two medals

TACOMA, Wash. — Nick Sauceda’s see-saw Saturday ended on the upswing as the Davis senior earned a fifth-place medal in the 135-pound bracket.

Starting the day in the championship semifinals, Sauceda was stunned by a first-period fall and then fell narrowly in his first consolation match just over an hour later. That left him the final for fifth and sixth.

“It was the last match of my career and the coaches said, ‘How do you want to go out?,’” Sauceda said. “I was determined to do everything I could to go out a winner.”

He did that with controlling dominance in a 5-2 decision over South Kitsap’s Cody Barich, who was also trying to bounce back from two losses after reaching the semifinals.

“After losing twice I couldn’t imagine three in a row,” Sauceda added. “I didn’t want any regrets so I just went all out. I wanted that for me and my coaches.”

Davis junior Alexio Garcia took home an eighth-place medal at 103 for the second year in a row.