Final Regular-Season 4A Class Individual Rankings
By The
PREDICTOR
Kurt Lang
You know, as I put the finishing touches on this ranking, I think it might be helpful for everyone to know what goes into putting it all together.
I scan newspapers, the Internet, wrestling magazines, local radio and any other new outlet I can find. I hear from coaches, fans, wrestlers, and referees. I cruise the web to high school and league sites and steal statistics.
All of this information gets entered into my database, which has wrestling results back to 1953, and includes the names of thousands of wrestlers (4,385 this school year alone, or about 60% of the kids turning out). I record as many tournament results as I can (6,177 this year). I copy as many dual contest results as I can, using the speed of my computer (I estimate 40,000 or so head-to-head results this season, though they are not indexed—this is out of about 200,000 bouts that are wrestled in the high school season each year, in Washington State alone!). I enter all I can find out about each team, school and coach (About 264 schools have wrestling, that I know of).
I look into my archival database to rank the 220 tournaments I know about with a scale of 0-100. The toughest include the Tri State, Mat Classic, and Reno Tournament of Champions. At the low end I have JV tournaments (Yep, if I can find the results, they go in) and some non-sanctioned events. Much of the ranking is based upon instinct.
Finally, I sort wrestlers by weight and school classification, with the database assigning points base upon a formula including tourney toughness and placement.
After that report is issued by weight, I look at the top 20-30 wrestlers in each division, and look to all data I have on them as individuals. I juggle the rankings and add commentary, and send the finished product to folks who kindly post my material. (That’s right, to answer a question I get asked all of the time, I do not have my own website—I get published by others.)
I always reconsider my rankings when I get new information, because there are always some deserving wrestlers I’ve overlooked. And I always invite folks to give input, which will be heard. (wapredictor@hotmail.com
The tough part is, I can’t keep up with the emails (sometimes 30 per day) and the database, and I make mistakes. I am not discouraged; I just want you all to know that this is no cakewalk. I do it for the love of the oldest, greatest and purest sport in the world—and because the men and women who work their tails off on the mats deserve all of the recognition and respect we can give them. Go to a match, volunteer to help out, or if you’re already involved, please continue.
For those of you who have E-mailed me results, information, and opinions, my undying gratitude is yours. I have been so terribly busy that I haven’t had a chance to do anything but keep the database up-to-date. I apologize for not answering promptly, and I’ll try to catch up as soon as I can.
103
I haven’t had so much trouble with a whole ranking this year. The top-three were easy, but the next twelve are hard to put in order. This weekend will sort things out some more.
|
Rank |
Name |
Year |
School |
Prev. at State |
|
1 |
Ryan Trotter |
Senior |
Decatur |
7th—2001 |
|
2 |
Cory Vombaur |
? |
Evergreen (Vancouver) |
No Prev |
|
3 |
Joel Anderson |
? |
Enumclaw |
No Prev |
|
4 |
Ko Brudvik |
Senior |
Edmonds-Woodway |
DNP—2001, 7th—2000 |
|
5 |
Reese Whitley |
Sophomore |
Wenatchee |
No Prev |
|
6 |
Travis Warrington |
? |
Lake Stevens |
No Prev |
|
7 |
Michael Matte |
? |
Tahoma |
No Prev |
|
8 |
Chad Ferrozzo |
Junior |
Central Valley |
No Prev |
|
9 |
Maurice Lopez |
? |
Auburn |
No Prev |
|
10 |
Cory Fish |
? |
University |
No Prev |
|
11 |
Jeremy Montang |
Freshman |
University |
No Prev |
|
12 |
John Hanks |
Junior |
Marysville-Pilchuck |
DNP—2001 |
|
13 |
Rory Magana |
? |
Oak Harbor |
No Prev |
|
14 |
Martin Salinas |
Sophomore |
Pasco |
No Prev |
|
15 |
Jordan Faucette |
? |
Rogers (Puyallup) |
No Prev |
Daniel Guzman, Walla Walla
Austin Templeton, Central Kitsap
Nathan Sawhill, Mead
Alex Jaime, Olympic
112
Holy cats, I didn’t realize how loaded this class is until I ran the report. In the top ten, I show fourteen previous trips to the dome, seven medals, five top-three’s, and two championships. Er-uh, you figure it out, I can’t.
|
Rank |
Name |
Year |
School |
Prev. at State |
|
1 |
Mike Rodriguez |
Sophomore |
Kamiakin |
2nd—2001 |
|
2 |
Jesse Getchell |
Senior |
Heritage |
1st—2001, 8th—2000, DNP—1999 |
|
3 |
Matt Hadreas |
Senior |
Edmonds-Woodway |
3rd—2001, 7th—2000, DNP—1999 |
|
4 |
Josh Williams |
Senior |
Kennewick |
DNP—2001, 1st—2000, DNP—1999 |
|
5 |
Jake Gonzalez |
Sophomore |
Enumclaw |
DNP—2001 |
|
6 |
Dimitry Gaydarzhi |
Senior |
Curtis |
DNP—2001 |
|
7 |
Julio Garcia |
Junior |
Port Angeles |
DNP—2001 |
|
8 |
Justin Davidson |
Sophomore |
Bothell |
No Prev |
|
9 |
C.J. Brown |
Senior |
Stanwood |
3rd—2001 |
|
10 |
Tom Tran |
Senior |
University |
No Prev |
|
11 |
Jason Foster |
Senior |
Cascade (Everett) |
DNP—2001 |
|
12 |
John Gonzales |
Senior |
Auburn |
DNP—2000 |
|
13 |
Justin Rose |
Senior |
University |
No Prev |
|
14 |
Gilbert Bazan |
Junior |
Eisenhower |
No Prev |
|
15 |
Mike Caniparoli |
? |
Tahoma |
No Prev |
Honorable Mention
Rick Yeager, Evergreen (Vancouver)
Matt Karber, Rogers (Spokane)
Jeff Shiltz, Wilson
David Markey, Thomas Jefferson
Nathan Reese, Olympic
Kevin Lang, Oak Harbor
Mike Fisher, Battle Ground
119
Boy oh boy, another fun bracket to watch in Tacoma, if some of these guys can even get out of their regions. Absolutely inhumane is the competition at 119. Luke Kuhn is on top right now because of big wins over ranked wrestlers in big tournaments. Tony Kubec beat Ty Human in a classic Wesco matchup. Derek Kipperberg has been quietly winning away on the Kitsap Peninsula. And the others, well I could go on, but there’s no time---on to 125.
|
Rank |
Name |
Year |
School |
Prev. at State |
|
1 |
Luke Kuhn |
Senior |
Gonzaga Prep |
DNP—2001 |
|
2 |
Tony Kubec |
Sophomore |
Cascade (Everett) |
DNP—2001 |
|
3 |
Derek Kipperberg |
Senior |
South Kitsap |
4th—2001 |
|
4 |
Ty Human |
Junior |
Lake Stevens |
5th—2001, 2nd—2000 |
|
5 |
Tyler Sherfey |
Sophomore |
Kamiakin |
3rd—2001 |
|
6 |
Jesse Lang |
Junior |
Richland |
5th—2001 |
|
7 |
Jon Maryanski |
? |
Tahoma |
No Prev |
|
8 |
Dan Johnson |
Senior |
University |
No Prev |
|
9 |
Ryan Wheeler |
Junior |
Olympic |
No Prev |
|
10 |
Nate Hawley |
? |
Mead |
No Prev |
|
11 |
Brett Wagner |
Junior |
Rogers (Puyallup) |
5th—2001 |
|
12 |
P.J. Gemin |
Senior |
Inglemoor |
DNP—2001, DNP—2000 |
|
13 |
Jon Garcia |
Senior |
Oak Harbor |
DNP—2001 |
|
14 |
Cory Getchell |
? |
Heritage |
No Prev |
|
15 |
Tonio Thacker |
Junior |
Auburn Riverside |
8th—2001 |
Honorable Mention
Jeff McClellan, Curtis
Matt Curry, Mount Vernon
Janya Lyuban,, Heritage
Chris Ross, Mountain View
Haven Hash, Prairie
Jamie Schrader, Foss
125
The question everywhere is, “What weight is Barnes going to go?” I know a lot of wrestlers’ post-season hopes ride on the answer, so I’ll weigh in with my guess, which has no insider information at all. I reckon he’ll step onto the scales at 125#, to free up the possibility for teammate Eric Curnett to win at 130#. Every point will count hugely in the team scores, and I think Coach Barnes will maximize his potential. That being said, the next question is, “Can anyone beat Burke?” Briefly, yes. Remember Gable, Karelin, Owen, McGettrick? Will anyone beat Burke? Well, that’s why they wrestle--to find out. Enjoy!
|
Rank |
Name |
Year |
School |
Prev. at State |
|
1 |
Burke Barnes |
Senior |
Lake Stevens |
1st—2001, 1st—2000, 1st—1999 |
|
2 |
Mike Roggenkamp |
Senior |
Enumclaw |
DNP—2001, DNP—2000 |
|
3 |
Mickey Elliott |
Junior |
Spanaway Lake |
3rd—2001 |
|
4 |
Ryan Montang |
Senior |