There are more than 200 athletes from Clark County and Woodland who will be competing in Mat Classic, which is now a three-day event at the Tacoma Dome, with four championship divisions being completed by Friday night and five on Saturday
Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com
The end of the season for high school wrestling in Washington has always been one of the biggest events on the WIAA calendar.
Boys and girls wrestling, all classifications, under one roof for one epic event.
We know it as Mat Classic.
Now, it might as well be the Even Bigger Mat Classic.
Mat Classic 2025 in the Tacoma Dome is going to be a three-day event, with championship nights split up, with some classifications going with Friday finals and others on Saturday.
The brackets are larger, too, with spots for 32 wrestlers in each weight class.
“It was getting harder and harder to get enough sites to host regionals with the growth of girls wrestling,” said Mick Hoffman, executive director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.
Instead, wrestlers earned spots to state through district tournaments.
“We think it will be cost neutral and twice as many kids get to compete in the Tacoma Dome,” Hoffman said.
It will also make finals a more exclusive feeling for those in championship matches. There are now nine separate championship events to conduct. The 4A boys, 3A boys, 4A girls, and 3A girls will be completed on Friday night. The 2A boys, 1A boys, 2B/1B boys, 2A girls, and 1A/2B/1B girls will finish on Saturday night.
There are more than 200 Clark County (and Woodland) wrestlers who have earned spots to state, which begins Thursday with Class 4A and 3A boys and Class 4A and 3A girls opening round matches.
On Friday, opening round matches will be held for Classes 2A, 1A, and the B boys, as well as 2A girls and 1A girls.
Faith Tarrant of Prairie is looking to become a four-time state champion. There have only been four girls who have ever accomplished the feat. Tarrant is ranked No. 1 in her Class 3A weight class by the Washington Wrestling Report.
There are four other defending state champions from Clark County in the field, as well.
Skyview’s Jonas DesRochers (132 pounds), Mason DesRochers (138), and JJ Schoenlein (175) are all ranked No. 1.
Union’s Noah Koyama won it all at 138 pounds last year. He is at 144 this season.
Connor Crum of Seton Catholic finished second in Class 1A 120 pounds last season. He is the top-ranked 1A wrestler at 126 pounds going into this event.
Another top-ranked wrestler from the county is Aliyah Vargas of Washougal in the 2A girls 145-class.
Camas leads the 4A boys with nine qualifiers. Prairie has 12 qualifiers in 3A boys. Ridgefield has 11 in the 2A boys brackets. La Center has 12 wrestlers in 1A boys. In all, there are 125 boys from Clark County (and Woodland) at Mat Classic.
Union leads the 4A schools with 10 qualifiers in 4A girls. Mountain View has six girls in the 3A brackets. Hudson’s Bay has six girls in the 2A brackets. Fort Vancouver and Seton Catholic each have three girls in the 1A brackets. There are 76 girls from the area at Mat Classic.
Also read:
- High school state basketball: Columbia River suffers heartache in overtime loss in semifinals
Columbia River’s run to the Class 2A semifinals ended on a buzzer-beater in overtime, while Evergreen advanced to a trophy game and several other Clark County teams wrapped up their state tournament seasons. - Pro basketball: Vancouver Bears set to debut new name in new league
Vancouver’s professional basketball franchise has rebranded as the Vancouver Bears and will open its season in a new league March 7 at Hudson’s Bay High School. - State basketball quarterfinals: Columbia River Rapids keep dream alive, advance to final four
Columbia River defeated Pullman in the Class 2A state tournament quarterfinals in Yakima to reach the semifinals, while four other Clark County teams fell in their respective state quarterfinal games. - State high school basketball: Five local teams to play in quarterfinal games Thursday, March 5
Five Clark County basketball teams advanced to state quarterfinal games after Columbia River, Columbia Adventist, Evergreen, and Seton Catholic won Wednesday and Union had already secured its spot. - State high school basketball: Seven Clark County teams still playing in final week of tourneys
Union girls and Columbia River boys advanced Saturday, joining five other Clark County teams in the final week of state basketball tournaments.
