TACOMA — This was not the team Joe Knox thought he'd have.

Injuries plagued the Ephrata boys wrestling roster before the season even hit its stride. But a handful of Tigers persevered through the adversity to reach the Tacoma Dome over the weekend, with two wrestlers climbing the podium.

Freshman Colt Staples finished fifth at 165 pounds while senior teammate Payton Woods finished sixth at 215. Overall, Ephrata placed 21st in the team standings with 47 points at the WIAA 2A Mat Classic XXXVII on Friday and Saturday.

"I was really pleased with the guys who decided to stick it out and do the work," said Coach Knox, reflecting on the season. "We really showed a lot of growth and improvement. That's a real testament to the resiliency of the boys."

Staples earned first-team all-league honors in the Central Washington Athletic Conference, Woods was a second-team selection.

Also competing for Ephrata at state were freshman Louden Leenhouts (106), senior Carter Garcia (150) and junior Adrian Negrete (157).

Staples came to the state tournament seeded second in his weight class and handled his first two matches without trouble, pinning Carson Daily of Sultan and winning a 7-1 decision over Cooper Nees of Port Angeles. But in the quarterfinals, Emmitt Priddy of Deer Park — the eventual runner-up at 165 — beat him 10-2 by major decision.

It's a tough learning curve for anyone new to the competitive Mat Classic atmosphere, Knox indicated.

"I'm not so sure there are a lot of freshmen who can handle the pressure of being the two seed at state," he said. "Early in the tournament I felt that he was wrestling tentative and it cost him in the quarters."

Staples recovered, though. He beat Enrique Rebollo of Quincy by major decision and pinned Gavin Kaikkonen of Tumwater before Jordon Larson of Orting knocked him to the 5th-place match with a 12-2 major decision in the consolation semifinal round. Rallying once again, a tenacious Staples went on to beat Hunter Nicholson of East Valley (Spokane) 12-7. The EHS freshman finished the season with a 40-13 record.

"As the tournament wore on Saturday, I felt Colt was getting more comfortable on the big stage and wrestling up to his ability," Knox said afterward. "Overall, I was pleased with his performance."

As a senior, Woods compiled a 39-7 record this season against everyone not named Alejandro Barajas. Against Barajas, of rival Quincy, he was 0-5 coming into the state tournament. After dropping a second-round fall to Jaxon Satiacum of Orting in his opener, Woods then won four straight, pinning Alika Vargas of Centralia, Coen Chandler of Sultan and Saif Dahham of Nathan Hale before edging Theodore Engle of Pullman 8-6.

Reaching the consolation semifinals, Woods was pinned by Ethan Rogers of Eatonville. Advancing to the match for fifth- and sixth-place paired him again with Barajas.

He was already hurting. An ankle injury earlier in the tournament left Woods' right ankle swollen and made putting weight on it difficult. He competed anyway. Barajas prevailed in a 5-0 decision.

"I thought he gutted out his state performance and showed tremendous heart," Knox said. "Barajas is good and his style does not favor Payton."

Before the match, Knox pulled the Tiger senior aside. "I just told Payton, 'Let's do this one last time,'" said the coach. "What I was really talking about was him and (me), wrestler and coach. It has been a great three years and I will miss him."

Knox said the consolation bracket demands a specific mindset.

"The backside of state is brutal. We talked to all those kids about taking one match at a time and that it was possible to still medal. Wrestlers do it every year," Knox continued. "But you can't give in and you can't give up. Every one of our guys gave it everything they had. Sometimes, the other guy is just better."

Among Ephrata's other Mat Classic qualifiers, Leenhouts went 3-2, following up a second-round loss by winning three straight consolation matches. That led to a rematch with Kyler Mays of Ellensburg, who had beaten him 4-3 in the district semifinal a week earlier. At state, Mays won again, 5-1. 

Garcia went 1-2 at state, starting with a first-round loss to Toby Li of Cleveland, then winning a 13-7 decision over Ivan Garcia-Zapata of Lynden. In this third match, Garcia fell to Glenny Black of Aberdeen by pin to end his senior season. 

Negrete also went 1-2, starting the first round with a loss to Marcellus Arevalo of Woodland, then pinning Calvin Veranth of Cedarcrest in 3:39, and ending his state run with a technical fall loss to Breyden Childress of Marysville-Pilchuck, 17-2.

Potentially, four EHS wrestlers with state experience will return next season, including Daron Hernandez who qualified at districts for the Dome but was sidelined by an injury sustained in practice early last week tha tended his postseason run. Sophomore Danny Wurl also made the trip to Tacoma as an alternate.

"We have to get better, obviously," Knox said. "But I think we are starting to close the gap."