MARYSVILLE — The Arlington wrestling team is having a blast with its Crew.
Both of them.
Twin brothers Azariah and Ruben Crew, who joined the Eagles midway through the season last year, won back-to-back individual titles at 160 and 170 pounds, respectively, to lead Arlington to its second consecutive 3A Region 1 team title Saturday afternoon at Marysville Pilchuck High School.
“The boys transferred from Lake Stevens and they transferred mid-year and got here and decided, ‘We’re just going to go to school. We’re not going to wrestle,’” Arlington head coach Rick Iversen said. “Then, Ruben did come out and within a few days Azariah came out. But neither one of them were eligible until the end of the year. Then, they could become part of us.”
Ruben, who is ranked No. 1 in the state at 170 pounds, joined the Arlington wrestling team and, along with Iversen, was able to recruit Azariah to the Eagles soon after.
“I just lost interest in wrestling. Somehow, this year, I got it back,” Azariah said. “Iversen did (talk to me) and do stuff like that. Mostly, it was my twin was wrestling, so I was like, ‘Sure. It’s my senior year. I’ll just go for it.’”
Said Ruben: “It’s awesome to have him back on the team. It’s fun. We’ve been together forever.”
Ruben went on to place second at 170 pounds at Mat Classic last season. Azariah finished as an alternate at regionals.
As a freshman, Azariah placed fourth in the state at 106 pounds while wrestling for Lake Stevens.
Said Iversen: “Hopefully, in another week, we can say, ‘The rest is history.’”
Azariah Crew wrestled in the most thrilling match of the day Saturday squaring off against Edmonds-Woodway’s Mason McDaniel in the 160-pound championship bout. McDaniel, who is ranked No. 1 in the state by WashingtonWrestlingReport.com, got two points for a reversal with 29 seconds remaining in the bout to take a one-point lead.
But Crew, who is ranked No. 2, escaped for one point to tie, and took McDaniel to the mat for two points with 8.9 seconds remaining to clinch the 8-6 decision.
“I just told Azariah Crew that wasn’t the match of the day. That was the match of the year,” Iversen said. “That could very well become the state title match.”
Azariah agreed. The senior, who lost to McDaniel at an invite early in the season, hopes the pair gets one final grudge match: at Mat Classic.
“I wouldn’t mind (wrestling McDaniel again). I’m pretty sure we’re going to wrestle in the finals,” Azariah said. “I think I’m a good enough wrestler. And so is he.
“We’ll see who wins. Hopefully, me.”
Excited by his twin brother’s big win, Ruben — who is the eldest Crew by 24 minutes — followed Azariah’s victory with one of his own, with a 13-4 decision over Ferndale’s Taylor Bellefeuille.
“They’re both a couple of clowns in the room,” Iversen said. “They don’t take themselves too seriously. Then, all of a sudden, they will. Then they show us a different side. It’s all there. They’ve got the experience. They wrestled out of diapers.”
The Crews were two of 10 Arlington wrestlers to qualify for Mat Classic. Boston Jones (126 pounds), Gavin Rork (132) and Colton Ferro (195) also won individual regional titles for the Eagles, with Danny Herrera (113), Will Rush (120), Jeremy Nygard (138), Cooper McAuslan (145) and Adalberto Ramos (220) also clinching trips to the Tacoma Dome next weekend.
And, to top it off, Arlington avenged a recent loss to Edmonds-Woodway in a highly publicized duel on Jan. 29. The Warriors defeated Arlington 37-24 in a matchup that featured the No. 1 (Arlington) and No. 5 (Edmonds-Woodway) teams in the state.
The Eagles topped the Warriors in the Edmonds Invite early in the season.
“I’m really happy with it,” Iversen said. “Coming into this, we lost the big duel with Edmonds-Woodway. This was kind of the crosstown-showdown again and we came out on top of it today. Next week, Edmonds-Woodway is taking enough that they could still win the state tournament. They won one, we won one, we both want to win the state tournament.”
Edmonds-Woodway (197.5 points) finished second, 26.5 points behind Arlington (224). Like the Eagles, Edmonds-Woodway qualified 10 individual wrestlers for Mat Classic.
“It was a lot of fun today,” Warriors head coach Brian Alfi said. “The kids wrestled really well. Going into this weekend I was penciling it out — and I thought it was going to be tough to get 10. And the kids wrestled very, very well. We think 10’s a good number to go into next weekend and give us a chance to compete at a high level there.”
Edmonds-Woodway won the first three championship matches of the day, with Mitchell Martinez (106), Ebrima Fatty (113) and Sidat Kanyi (120) all winning regional titles. Riley Seward also won a tough 2-1 decision over Arlington’s McAuslan at 145 pounds in a possible state championship preview.
McDaniel, Spencer Schultz (182), Anthony Lindamood (152), Abdoulie Jatta (170), Michael Swires (195) and Salihou Fatty (120) also clinched state berths.
“Salihou Fatty, coming through and getting to state in 120 — that was one of the toughest weight classes here at regionals,” Alfi said. “That was fantastic. … That was great to see him step up the way he did.
“I think we’re starting to peak. We’ve got 10 through here and they wrestled well. I think we’re trending the right direction.”
Ferndale (144), Oak Harbor (88) and Glacier Peak (83) rounded out the top 10. Dymond Piper won an individual title for Oak Harbor at 152 pounds against Glacier Peak’s Ricky Kranz. Piper’s Oak Harbor teammate Samuel Zook took the heavyweight bout with a 3-0 decision over Glacier Peak’s Malakai Fifita.
Stanwood’s Mason Phillips escaped with a 4-3 victory over Arlington’s Nygard at 138 after a one-point escape with less than eight seconds to go in the third period gave Phillips what he needed to clinch the win.
Marysville Getchell’s Troy Woodruff also was an individual champion, with a 5-3 decision over Ramos at 220 pounds.
At Marysville Pilchuck H.S.
Team scores — Arlington 224, Edmonds-Woodway 197.5, Ferndale 144, Oak Harbor 88, Glacier Peak 83, Everett 67, Marysville Pilchuck 50, Mountlake Terrace 50, Hazen 42, Lynnwood 40.5, Marysville Getchell 40, Stanwood 36.5, Shorewood 34, Meadowdale 30, Kennedy Catholic 17.
Championship matches
(Both to state)
106—Mitchell Martinez (E-W) maj. dec. Cole Daurie (MP) 11-3; 113—Ebrima Fatty (E-W) dec. Stephan Erosa (Ev) 3-1; 120—Sidat Kanyi (E-W) pinned Tyson Mowrey (H) :29; 126—Boston Jones (A) maj. dec. Eli Croy (F) 16-2; 132—Gavin Rork (A) pinned Nate Paulson (L) :22; 138—Mason Phillips (St) dec. Jeremy Nygard (A) 4-3; 145—Riley Seward (E-W) dec. Cooper McAuslan (A) 2-1; 152—Dymond Piper (OH) dec. Ricky Kranz (GP) 12-5; 160—Azariah Crew (A) dec. Mason McDaniel (E-W) 8-6; 170—Ruben Crew (A) maj. dec. Taylor Bellefeuille (F) 13-4; 182—Ben Broselle (F) pinned Spencer Schultz (E-W) :29; 195—Colton Ferro (A) dec. Sam Cleary (F) 2-1; 220—Troy Woodruff (MG) dec. Adalberto Ramos (A) 5-3; 285—Samuel Zook (OH) dec. Malakai Fifita (GP) 3-0.
Third/fourth place matches
(Both to state)
106—Rhaye Samson (SW) pinned Blake Servatius (OH) :31; 113—Danny Herrera (A) inj. def. Gene An (MT); 120—Will Rush (A) pinned Salihou Fatty (E-W) 3:24; 126—Beck Millet (Mead) maj. dec. Leul Wolde (L) 14-4; 132—Max Kiser (GP) dec. Mario Wesa (H) 8-1; 138—Patrick West (Ev) dec. Fidel Chishungu (SW) 8-3; 145—Noah Saenz (F) dec. Zachuriah Aketch (OH) 7-0; 152—Anthony Lindamood (E-W) dec. Brett Allred (Ev) 6-3; 160—Braiden Klimp (F) dec. Chaplyn Mack (MT) 6-1; 170—Abdoulie Jatta (E-W) maj. dec. Cole Anstice (L) 14-2; 182—Liam Ball (Mead) dec. Arie Van Veen (St) 8-6; 195—Bowen McConville (KC) pinned Michael Swires (E-W) 3:10; 220—Ilai Wilson (MT) dec. Nate Slaton (F) 11-5; 285—Austin Brown (MP) inj. def. Brett Engelman (MG).
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