Mountlake Terrace had quite a showing at the 3A Region IV wrestling tournament.

Junior Daniil Oliferovskiy placed third in the 152-pound division and three of his teammates finished fourth Saturday at Glacier Peak High School.

All four Hawks advanced to next week’s state tournament.

“It was a heck of a day,” said Mountlake Terrace coach Grant Thompson. “My goal coming into the year was to send at least four people to state.”

Oliferovskiy defeated Mount Spokane’s Hayden Hohman 7-2 in the third-fourth place match. Last year Oliferovskiy didn’t even advance to regionals. Now he’s headed to state.

“It’s a big jump from not even making it to third place,” Oliferovskiy said.

He was just as happy that three of his teammates are joining him.

“It’s a big deal. It’s an accomplishment,” Oliferovskiy said. “It’s a big milestone for Mountlake Terrace wrestling.”

Earlier, Oliferovskiy won a 4-1 decision over Sunnyside’s Andy Gomez to earn a trip to state.

“I think the difference was that coach came up to me and said ‘Daniil, you understand all your work, all your sweat, all your blood in the wrestling room has been for this moment,’” Oliferovskiy said. “’If you don’t show up in this moment, … you’re not going to state. Take it to him.’”

Oliferovskiy plans to approach the state tournament in the same way he did at regionals.

“I’ve been peaking,” he said. “I feel really light on my toes. I’ve been eating well, making my weight. … I’m going to go in and try to feel as good as I can and hopefully perform at my best.”

Thompson thought Oliferovskiy wrestled well all tournament.

“His technique was really good. His shots were amazing,” Thompson said.

Junior Taron Castleton (138 pounds) recorded a pin in overtime against Southridge’s Danny Navarro to secure his state berth. Castleton then lost to Mount Spokane’s Richie Bondurant 8-0 in the third-fourth place match.

Senior Syd Springberg (182) recorded a pin again Glacier Peak’s Marcus Becerra to advance to state. Springberg then was defeated 11-9 in overtime by North Central’s Junior Villaro in the third-fourth place match. Springberg was leading in the third period but then Villaro tied the score to send the match into overtime.

“Syd had a tough third round,” Thompson said. “As far as tempo-wise, I felt like he beat up that kid that entire match. He just didn’t close the deal.”

Senior Brett Potter won a 6-4 decision over Shadle Park’s Ryan Burnett to secure his state berth. Potter then was pinned by Sunnyside’s Isaac Palomino in the third-fourth place match.

“I would really like to have a state champion,” Thompson said. “That’s always something on my mind. I just want each one of these guys to come away with a medal. That would really make me happy.”

Story and photos by David Pan