Three Comets qualified for the Class 1A wrestling state tournament, including two at the two lowest weights: 106-pound freshman Reef Pacot and 113-pound junior Gage Reed.
They will be joined at the UI State Farm Center by 132-pound sophomore Joe Lashuay.
In Saturday’s Olympia Sectional, Pacot and Reed won their weight classes. Lashuay assured his advancement by placing fourth.
Reed (39-3 record) is competing at the same weight where he placed fifth at state last year.
“Gage Reed was out there just having fun these past few weeks,” Oakwood coach Mike Glosser said. “You can tell that last year let him know he can wrestle with anybody in the state and he believes in himself right now.
“That should not only help him, but also the other two next weekend at state because we all know how much mental comes in to play at this point in the season.”
Reed and Pacot (40-4 season record) go head-to-head in practice virtually every day.
“Reef and Gage battle every day in the room and the competition is breeding success,” Glosser said. “They feed off each other’s energy and are both wrestling very confident right now.
“I knew coming in Reef had a successful youth career with a great youth program and great coach, Vince Chambliss.
“He stepped right in and was ready to compete at the high school level, and with the help of high school coaches Bryce Ivey and Kylee Bott, he’s had a fun freshman year. The kid seems to never lose his cool during matches no matter what happens. He’s a gamer for sure.”
A year ago, Lashuay fell one match short of advancing to state. This year, in that elimination match, he prevailed 14-12 in overtime.
“Joe had a nail-biting match,” Glosser said. “He was winning 6-2 and gets hit in a five-point move and at one point was down 10-6. He got three takedowns in the third period to tie the match at 12-12 to force overtime.
“I was super proud of him because he’s battled a lot of adversity this year. It’s fun to see good things happen to good kids.”
Oakwood had five other sectional competitors, including two who won twice before bowing out.
Tate Johnson (160 pounds) won decisions by scores of 6-1 and 17-5. Colby Smiley (182 pounds) registered two pins, including one in 11 seconds.
Johnson’s wins moved him into the 30-win club for the season.
Josh Miller (195 pounds) and Caide Borden (220 pounds) each posted one pin.
The Comets’ other sectional entry, Connor Hutson (138 pounds) suffered an overtime loss as well as a 3-0 setback.
“It was a fun weekend filled with ups and downs both days as far as team goes,” Glosser said.
In the most-recent IWCOA state rankings, Reed was ranked third, Pacot was ranked seventh and Lashuay was ranked 13th.
The state tournament starts on Thursday at State Farm Center.
