For the third straight year, Skyline wrestler Lexi Willcher battled her way to a state championship match.

Unfortunately for the senior, the third time wasn’t a charm at Saturday’s Mat Classic XXII.

Willcher fell via third-round pin to Sedro-Woolley’s Alysia Pohren in the 145-pound title bout, marking the third year in a row she finished as the state runner up.

“It definitely would have (been nice),” said Skyline coach Sean Gulikson, following the title match. “It’s just not always in the cards sometimes.”

Willcher battled toe-to-toe with Pohren early on. The score was just 2-0 after the first round. Pohren, the 2009 champion at 125 pounds, inched ahead in the second round earning an escape, a two-point takedown and a nearfall for a 7-0 lead. Pohren pushed the lead to 9-0, before catching Willcher in a cradle and pinning her at the 5:31 mark.

Willcher worked her way to the title match with a pin of Foss’s Maya Howard, a 6-3 decision over White River’s Mikaela Kilcup and a 10-5 decision over Garfield’s Punneh Abdolhosseni.

The championship loss was difficult for Willcher, who bolted quickly from the mat. Gulikson, who has coached her the last three years, noted three second-place finishes were quite a feat.

“It’s been a joy having her,” he said. “She brought a different dynamic to the room, a different level of competition, a lot of different styles a lot of good things, and it was a lot of fun having her.”

The second-place finish gave the Spartans 20 points, placing them at 31st overall. Sedro-Woolley won the girls meet with 139 points.

Willcher’s presence and success quite possibly has opened even more doors for future female wrestlers at Skyline.

“I’ve heard rumors — I mean there maybe another one or two coming up,” Gulikson said. “The middle schools have had some pretty big interest. We’ll see how many carry over into high school.”

BOYS TOURNAMENT

Skyline senior Anthony DeMatteo also brought home a high finish for the Spartan boys, taking fourth overall at 215 pounds. He went undefeated on Friday, pinning Lake Stevens’ Brandon Johnson 41 seconds in the first round and earning a 13-1 decision over Wilson’s David Stenger.

Saturday’s semifinal round started out difficult for DeMatteo, who fell via pin to the eventual state champion from Moses Lake, Brian Chamberlin, at the 4:42 mark. DeMatteo bounced back to beat Wenatchee’s Lucas Sealby in a 1-0 decision, reaching the third-fourth place match.

With a chance to repeat his third-place performance at 171 pounds his sophomore year, DeMatteo started out strong against Mead’s Jacob Trotter.

He had a two-point takedown early in the match, before tweaking a shoulder injury he suffered in the league tournament. The initial pain was cause for medics to rush to the mat. DeMatteo battled through, but was pinned just seconds later at the 2:49 mark of the match.

“It was disappointing, I guess,” DeMatteo said. “I came out right away and I controlled him. I just got a little too sucked under and let him go. I made a big mistake.”

DeMatteo’s three state victories put him at 102 for his Skyline career.

“He was an alternate his freshman year, places as a sophomore, was participant last year and places fourth this year, so he’s one of our more decorated wrestlers,” head coach Gus Kiss said.

Senior Danny Christianson earned his first ever placing at state, finishing eighth overall. Christianson won his opening-round match Friday in a close 6-5 decision over Mariner’s Alex Coffman. He fell in a 6-4 decision to Wenatchee’s Nick Hunt before beating Graham-Kapowsin’s, 6-3.

Christianson went 0-2 on Saturday, falling 6-0 to Newport’s Kevin McCanta and 8-5 to Arlington’s Dustin Ward.

The Spartans finished 25th overall as a team with 18 points. University of Spokane won the 4A state title with 156.5 points.

Issaquah’s lone competitor, senior Jordan Tanner, claimed one victory for the Eagles, but was unable to advance to the second day. He lost his first match at 135 pounds, 4-2, to Kamiak’s Nate Regan, before beating Jensen Chau of Foss, 6-3. Tanner then fell 15-11 to Graham-Kapowsin’s Grant Steen in a loser-out match.

Eastlake’s lone competitor, Trevor McKinnon, lost his first two matches at 160 pounds. He was pinned by Snohomish’s Micah Morrill before losing a 10-8 decision to Kamiakan’s Sisto Pina.

Eastside Catholic had two state qualifiers, but only one competed. Jake Cowin was unable to wrestle at 140 pounds due to an injury suffered in regionals. Sophomore Anthony Roy was eliminated in two matches at 152 pounds, falling via pin to Mount Vernon’s Joe Barrington and by another pin to Prairie’s Nolan Spires.