Here are some pieces of information we've gleaned from the record book and uncovered at Mat Classic XXI.

Statistically speaking...
Of the 32 defending champions at Mat Classic XXI, 28 remain in the championship brackets. Included in this group are all eight of The News Tribune’s “Untouchables.”

Kelso junior heavyweight Alisha Beach, a potential four-time state champion, is going for her third state championship. Beach pinned both her opponents on Friday.

Zillah sophomore Chris Castillo and Kiona-Benton sophomore Sheridan McDonald are also potential four-time champions. Castillo, who won the 1A 140-pound crown last year, is in the semifinals at 152 pounds. McDonald won the girls 135-pound title last season and has returned to the semifinals.

The following coaches earned coach of the year honors: Rex Febus, Mount Vernon; Mike Sowards, Orting; Jim Meyerhoff, Emerald Ridge; Craig Foster, Blaine; Randy Mulrony, Pomeroy; and Jamie Wise, Moses Lake.

Super-standout bracket
Republic High's Ryn Rollins thought attrition, or somewhere down the line, common sense would intervene.

By season's end, nothing did.

So Mat Classic XXI had a first – three reigning state champions in the same bracket. Tulalip Heritage's Demitri Robinson (won at 103 in 2008), Mary Walker's Conan Kalugin (112) and Rollins (119) all were grouped in the Class B 125 class Friday.

While Robinson was upset in his opening match, a 6-5 loss to Reardan's Kaare Anderson, Rollins and Kalugin were victorious in their two matches, and will square off for the state title tonight.

"When I found out at league a few weeks ago, I thought, 'Wow, this is going to be harder than I thought,'" Rollins said. "But it's always better beating someone who is good, than someone that's not."

A different colored shoe for each foot
Why use a matching pair of shoes, when two different shoes work just as well?

Senior Joey Salgado of Bonney Lake (152) has split two pairs of shoes with his friend Jeremy Gurule (112) of White River since the two were freshman. Salgado’s pair of wrestling shoes -– a black shoe with red stripes on the left foot and a yellow shoe with grayish-white insets on the right foot –- have been the footwear he’s been wearing all season long.

And the unusual mix of shoes, not particularly well-matching with the Panthers’ school colors of black, silver and teal, have served Salgado well.

“This is the combo that works,” he said.

In his final year of high school wrestling, the first-time state participant wrestled his way into the semifinals after pulling out a 6-4 win over Conner Brame of Ferndale.

The motivation to medal was enough to find that extra ounce of energy to pull out the quarterfinal win and that the semifinal opponent will be two-time state champion Derek Garcia of Sedro-Woolley is just fine with Salgado.

“I think it will be a good experience,” Salgado said of the prospect of facing of with the undefeated Cubs’ junior, who improved to 36-0 with two victories by pin on Friday. Garcia spent three minutes total on the mats, pinning Andre Courie of Timberline at the 2:34 mark and Isaac Tadeo of Auburn-Mountainview after 24 seconds in the quarterfinal.

No brotherly love for Ford
River Ridge junior Marques Ford, who won the Class 2A 140-pound title last season, might find himself looking over his shoulder after Friday. Not in any general sense, but specifically looking for a name – Reijm.

Two years ago, in the semifinals at 135 pounds, Ford ran into senior Taylor Reijm of Burlington-Edison and lost, 6-4. In the 2A 145-pound quarterfinals on Friday, Taylor’s younger brother Kyle, a sophomore, was Ford’s opponent.

The second Reijm did it again, getting a reversal in the final 10 seconds of the third period to upset Ford, 7-6.

“Hard work paid off,” Burlington coach Kirk Hamilton said. “Sometimes it’s just the way it works – the bracket. Kyle struck when he had the chance.”

But did the sophomore ever think he really had a shot at the state champ?

“No,” Reijm said. “I was thinking I had to do the best I could, and whatever happens would happen.”

For three consecutive years, the Orting High Cardinals have played second fiddle in the Class 1A team race at Mat Classic against the Eastern Washington powerhouses.

They're hoping 2009 is a different story.

After the first day at Mat Classic XXI, Orting is guaranteed to have 12 state placers of the 16 participants it sent to the Tacoma Dome.

Eight Cardinals wrestlers – Drew Templeman (112 pounds), brothers Shannon and Brady Maris (119), Antonio Brown (125), Garrett Mann (130), Nikko Veltri (140), Thompson (145) and reigning 160 champion Taylor Meeks (171) – are through to the semifinals Saturday.

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Jake Swartz (green singlet) in the quarterfinals at Mat Classic XXI. Swartz, one of The News Tribune's "Untouchables," pinned Ferris' Russell Stinson in 5:05.

Black Hills' Jimmy Belleville wrestles Burlington-Edison's Juan Canalas in the first round of the Class 2A 160-pound division at Mat Classic XXI. Belleville is going for his fourth state championship.

Here's a clip from Efrain Aguilar's quarterfinal victory over Zach Holland of Vancouver Evergreen in the Class 4A 119-pound division. The Graham-Kapowsin wrestler, who won the 112-pound crown last season, won the match, 6-0.

Woodinville won the team title and Kentlake's Kayla Shira claimed the all-around crown at the Class 4A gymnastics state meet today. You can view the results here.

The 2A/3A competition will begin later tonight, and the individual event competition is scheduled for Saturday.

Here's a clip from River Ridge's Marques Ford, a junior who won the Class 2A 140-pound title last year, in his first-round match against Selah's Chris Rowe in the 145-pound bracket.

Ford, in the white singlet, scored a two-point takedown and three-point near fall in this clip on his way to winning the match.

The WIAA will be updating the results from Mat Classic XXI right here. It appears there's a networking problem, but it should be corrected soon.

In the meantime, here are some things I've gleaned from the brackets:

-- There are 32 defending champions here.

-- One of them, Black Hills senior, Jimmy Belleville, can become the state's fifth four-time champion if he doesn't lose this weekend.

-- Sedro-Woolley junior Derek Garcia will go for his third title, this time at 152 pounds in 3A. Some say Garcia is one of the best wrestlers ever in the state.

--Zillah's Chris Castillo won the 140-pound 1A title as a freshman, so he's a potential four-time champion.

-- The 140-pound 3A bracket has two defending champions, Enumclaw's Jason Gray and Olympic's Brandon Yeik.

-- The 125-pound B bracket has THREE defending champions -- Demitri Robinson (103), Conan Kalugan (112) and Ryn Rollins (119). Whoever wins this title will have earned it.