BHS wrestlers nab third at 3A Regionals

Published 2:22 pm Friday, February 20, 2015

SEATTLE – There was very little love at the recent 3A District wrestling tournament held on Valentine’s Day at Chief Sealth High School.

The 15 squads that came to face off for the top spot weren’t too concerned about feelings, and there was no room for thoughts of hearts and flowers.

Bainbridge High managed to secure the third-place spot overall with a total team score of 128. O’Dea claimed the first-place ranking (251.5) and Roosevelt stole second (209).

Spartan grapplers claimed top spots in several weight classes, including three first-place finishes.

Cade Topham finished in second-place in the 120-pound bracket, losing the first-place spot to O’Dea’s Korry Broderick in a 14-4 decision match.

Jonathan Gallivan, however, locked up the first-place spot in the 126-pound bracket.

Gallivan, slated to wrestle fellow Spartan teammate Myron Butler in the first round won through a default ruling and then went on to claim two successive decision wins (5-1 over Nathan Hale’s Zeyab Nasir and a perfect 11-0 over Filmon Woldemariam, also of NH).

Spartan superstar Jack Miller claimed the first-place spot for Bainbridge in the 138-pound bracket.

Miller pinned Matt Williams of Eastside Catholic in the first round in 1:12 and then, in the second, made short work of West Seattle’s Nicholas Outey, pinning him in just 32 seconds. In the final match, Miller claimed a 6-2 decision win over Roosevelt’s Erik Choi.

Bainbridge dominated two of the top spots in the 160-pound bracket.

Aaron Jumpa finished in second-place and Joaquin Gurza claimed third.

Jumpa pinned Roosevelt’s Conrad Austin in 2:36 in the first round, then claimed a 5-1 decision win over Nathan Hale’s Chris Moore in the second match before coming up short against Roosevelt’s Tom Skoog (3-2 decision).

Gurza also couldn’t find a flaw in Skoog’s technique, and lost against him in a 5-2 decision after having claimed a 9-2 win over West Seattle’s Miguel Cervantes in the first round.

Gurza went on to win two matches in the consolation bracket (a 6-1 decision over Roosevelt’s Conrad Austin followed by a flawless 9-0 decision over Nathan Hale’s Chris Moore) to secure the third-place spot.

Regular Spartan bracket-topper Liam Topham locked up the first-place spot in the 170-pound division. He pinned Garfield’s Ryan Mendle in 1:23 in the first round, then claimed a 13-1 decision over Bishop Blanchet’s Noah Traynor, before performing a flawless 5-0 decision win over Lakeside’s Jadyn Brown for the championship.

BHS will send six wrestlers to the 2015 Mat Classic XXVII Boys and Girls Mat Classic State Wrestling Championship Tournament, beginning Friday, Feb. 20 at the Tacoma Dome.

The Spartan grapplers representing Bainbridge will be both Cade and Liam Topham (120- and 170-pounds, respectively), Gallivan (120), Miller (138), Jumpa (160) and Gurza (160).