GOLDENDALE, Washington (STPNS) -- Nick Dumolt and Aaron Ferch closed out their wrestling careers with medal victories; third place for Dumolt and fourth place for Ferch. The wins are the highest pair of placings for Timberwolf wrestlers in many years. It is also a fitting end for the two seniors, who butted heads in the same division last year all the way through the regional meet, with Ferch always coming out on top.

Dumolt won his first state medal by winning four of five matches, losing only to eventual 171 pound state champion, Wes McAdams.



Dumolt?s opening match was an easy 14-4 victory over Jordan Ramos, of Cascade Christian.

That set up his first of two tough matches against Jesse Allen, of Chelan. Allen defeated Dumolt 5-2, early in the season at Royal City. The match would be a strategic battle of wrestlers who had similar ability and respect for each other. Following a scoreless first round, Allen started in the down position for round two and scored first with an escape, but Dumolt took him back down and led 2-1.

The wrestlers swapped reversals in round three and Dumolt added an escape for a 5-3 win. The win locked up a medal for Dumolt, but his goal was to win the division and his toughest match was next, against Lakeside?s McAdams.

McAdams finished second place at 152 pounds in 2007, and was bigger than Dumolt who could have wrestled at 160 this year, competing again against Ferch. Instead, he went up from 140 pounds in 2007, all the way to the 171 pound division.

McAdams jumped on top with a first round take down in the semifinal match. He added to his lead with an escape and take down in round two. Dumolt started in the down position in the third round and was unable to get away from McAdams, who rode out a 5-0 win.

McAdams won the 171 championship in his next match, while Dumolt?s next challenge was a familiar face in Kane Koerner of Zillah.

Dumolt owns two first round pins over Koerner during the season, but Koerner was an inspired wrestler at State. After a quick 32 second pin loss to McAdams, Koerner had three straight victories in the consolation bracket before meeting up with Dumolt.

Dumolt couldn?t pin Koerner this time around, but had a shutout until the final 15 seconds, when Koerner gained a reversal for a 7-2 final score.

In the battle for third and fourth places, Dumolt had confidence he could beat Allen again.

?It was more of a control match,? says Dumolt. They both tried to carefully score points, knowing that a mistake could result in a pin. ?I knew I could reverse him,? said Dumolt, ?since I had done it several times already.?

After another scoreless first round, Dumolt got his reversal in round two and Allen scored an escape. Allen was in the down position in round three and Dumolt sensed a bad situation, so he allowed Allen to complete a reversal, making it a 3-2 match in favor of the Chelan wrestler. Watching the clock, Dumolt waited until there were 30 seconds left before he made his move.

?I just kept moving. I knew my conditioning was better than his and he would burn out,? said Dumolt.

Burn out he did, and Dumolt went on top 4-3 and controlled Allen to the final whistle that gave him the third place medal. The win ended Dumolt?s high school wrestling career with an impressive 35-4 record as a senior.

Ferch

Aaron Ferch was admittedly nervous in his first match in the 160 pound division against Ricky Hunzelman, of Kalama. He battled his way to an 8-5 win and felt more confident going into his second match against Kevin Yoo, of Bellevue Christian, who wrestled at State last year as a 189 pounder. Ferch breezed past Yoo with a 12-3 win.

Next up was Omak?s Robert Miller, an experienced wrestler who placed second at 152 in 2007.  Miller derailed Ferch?s hopes to get into the championship round, as he was pinned, 1:25 into the second round.

?I felt confident against him, he just caught me,? said Ferch. Ferch almost got Miller in the first round, scoring a reversal and a near fall, to lead 5-4. Miller got ahead on a second round take down, and Ferch was still confident he could win, right up to the pin. ?He had long, lanky arms and big hands. He locked me up and got the pin.?

Ferch entered his next match against Scott Phillips, of Warden, with the confidence from knowing he beat the Warden wrestler the week before at regionals. Phillips was no match for Ferch and gave up an 11-4 decision.

In the battle for third and fourth places, Ferch met up with Tanner Wood, of Cashmere in a match that coach Matt Dumolt describes as ?a difficult one for Goldendale to take.? It was a rematch from the 2007 Mat Classic, in which Wood pitched a 7-0 shutout over Ferch.

This time, Wood wrestled a cautious match. He went up 4-0 on a first round take down and second round reversal. From the moment he reversed Ferch, Wood went into a stall. Despite a warning and two points awarded to Ferch for stalling, Wood simply locked up a wrist and was tight on the waist until the end of the 4-2 match.

Ferch finished the season 34-5 and, with fourth place medal in hand, to go with an eighth place medal from last Ferch?s brother, Caleb had a disappointing start to his state tournament. The senior was making his third appearance at State and says he just choked in his first match. He lost to Curtis Johnson, of Castle Rock, 2-1 in a match he believes he should have won. He was tired going into the match and couldn?t get going. The loss put Ferch in a hole, having to win at least two more matches.

He was feeling his old self against Kasey Brown, of Tenino, winning 2-0 before his third match against a tough, Tyson McGuffin, of Chelan. McGuffin won 11-3 and made his way through the consolation bracket to finish fourth. Ferch ended the season with a 27-7 record.

The fourth Timberwolf at State, Jeremy Wolfe, started strong, with the only pin of the tournament for a Goldendale wrestler, taking out Lindsey Vargas, of Lake Roosevelt, in 33 seconds. His next opponent, Justin Hernandez, of Tenino, had also been pinned by Wolfe, back in 2007, finishing sixth behind Wolfe?s fourth place at 103. It wasn?t going to be as easy, this time around. Wolfe opened with a takedown, but Hernandez reversed and gained back points to go up 4-2. Hernandez stalled out, giving one point to Wolfe, but it sent the Timberwolf to the consolation bracket against Randall Chipman, a freshman from Cashmere.

Wolfe led 2-0 going into the final round, after a slow start. Three Chipman reversals and a near fall later, Wolfe was prevented from winning a third State medal, in a 7-4 loss. Hernandez went on to a third place finish and Chipman finished eighth.

Goldendale finished 19th out of 48 teams in 1A. Matt Dumolt expressed satisfaction with the season and the accomplishments of a relatively small team. ?We out-conditioned every opponent and always put our best foot forward,? said Dumolt. The SCAC as a whole did well, placing eight teams in the top 20. Goldendale?s 33 points followed Connell (34), Naches Valley (35), Mabton (36), Granger (42), Zillah (60), Warden (72) and third place finisher, Royal, at 139.5 points.