By John Leggett
The Courier-Herald
Bonney Lake High’s 140-pound wrestler Nick Bendon concluded his senior season in a blaze of glory and 103-pounder Andrew Cunningham cemented his reputation for dominance at Mat Classic, each winning a Class 3A state championship at the Tacoma Dome.
Four Bonney Lake matmen made the challenging Mat Classic, as Bendon, Cunningham, 145-pounder Josh Peart and heavyweight Jared Dorsey had qualified. But Peart and Dorsey faltered in the preliminary rounds and only Bendon and Cunningham survived, winning four consecutive trials without a setback, as all champions must.
Bendon put on perhaps the most remarkable performance of his high school career, according to Bonney Lake coach Anthony Clarke.
“We kept hearing that the guy Nick faced in the semifinals, Ricky Simon of Union High School, was undefeated, which meant that he was at least 25-0. Well, Nick beat Simon and really turned the corner mentally, as far as that being a confidence builder for him.
“Nick got real emotional and kind of voiced his optimism saying if he can beat a guy that good, he should be able to beat anyone he goes up against,” Clarke said. “That was one of the best matches I’ve ever seen Nick wrestle and once that confidence is in place, that’s half the battle.”
In the championship bout, Bendon locked horns with his old sparring partner, fellow senior Alec Williams of White River and won a 5-1 decision for the belt.
Cunningham took the path less traveled to earn his champion’s accolades, as he easily dispatched his first pair of opponents, pinning Luca Carrucio from Mercer Island in 47 seconds and then shutting out Everett High’s Jessie Lopez with a 6-0 decision.
Cunningham’s next foes en route to the pinnacle of the state podium were pressure cookers, but the cool young transfer from New Mexico weathered the storm, edging Auburn Mountainview’s Tyke Reid 6-4 in overtime and trimming Yelm’s powerful contender, Dillon Harris with a narrow 4-2 decision in the championship round.
Peart displayed a Herculian effort. Wrestling the nationally-ranked Brandon Yeik, a product of Olympic High School, Peart fractured his collarbone, but wrestled on.
“After the doctor X-rayed his collarbone he couldn’t believe that Peart wrestled that well, even with an injury of that nature,” Clarke said.
Dorsey got a wake up call in his first test, getting pinned by Sedro Woolley’s Koenrad Schwartz with six seconds remaining in the first round.
The Panther senior heavyweight came all the way back through the consolation bracket to claim fourth place. Dorsey retaliated against Schwartz, repaying the favor by knocking the Cub grappler out of the competition to wrestle for third and fourth with a 4:31 fall.
“Overall I was pleased with our eighth-place finish,” Clarke said. “To finish eighth when we had basically only three wrestlers participating due to Peart’s early injury departure,, that was quite an achievement.”
Despite the departure of five key seniors in Dorsey, Bendon, Peart, Gordi St. Peter and David Vance, Clarke explained that Bonney Lake will have a pretty fair squad returning next year. Cunningham will return as reigning state crown holder at 103 pounds, Matt Yuste did surprisingly well as a freshman this season in a demanding 125-pound weight class, Jake Leuders will be coming back at 152 pounds, Dorsey’s younger brother Evan returns at 171 pounds and 119-pounder Robbie Slick will wrestle his senior campaign.
