For the area’s top wrestlers, it’s time to take the big stage.

Klahowya Secondary School, and Bremerton, Central Kitsap and Olympic high schools compete Friday and Saturday at Mat Classic XXII at the Tacoma Dome.

Here is a breakdown of the state championships:

Klahowya soars to the Dome

The Eagles are enjoying their best season in school history and are sending eight wrestlers to state.

Klahowya won the Olympic League regular-season championship, earned its second regional title in three years last weekend and is in position to finish higher than it ever has at the state championships.

The team placed a school-best 16th at Mat Classic XXI in 2009, but coach Wayne Gizzi said the Eagles are good enough this season to break the top 10, or even five.

Four of the team’s eight state competitors participated in the tournament last year.

“I definitely think our experience is going to help,” Gizzi said. “But the fun part is, you never know what will happen on any given day.”

Senior co-captains Neil Sell and Joe Sawyers finished third and fourth at state in 2009 and lead the Eagles’ octet.

Sell, who is 36-2 this season, could be the team’s best chance for an individual title after placing third at last year’s state competition.

Wrestling in the 145-pound weight division as a junior, he lost a disappointing second-round match and dropped to the consolation bracket, where he won his next four matches to secure bronze.

Since then, the senior has wondered, “What if?”

“He was definitely disappointed,” Gizzi said. “You just never know what might happen at state.”

But the pieces are in place for Sell to make another run. He won an individual regional championship at 152 and received a favorable draw in the state bracket. He’ll open Friday against Jake Knutzen of Burlington Edison High School.

Sawyers also is looking to reach the podium. The 140-pounder enters the weekend with a season record of 29-5, also earning an individual title at regionals.

Gizzi said Sawyers planned earlier this season to wrestle at 135 at state, but he wasn’t able to lose the weight. That leaves the returning state participant in the 140 bracket, where he’ll open against Zack Williams of Elma High School.

Also returning to Mat Classic is junior Nehemiah Salo (160), who is 29-6 this season and coming off a regional championship. He managed one victory at last year’s Mat Classic. Senior Ammon Jensen also returns.

Making their state-champinship debuts are freshman Adam Burchett, who is 28-4 at 103; freshman Connor Veach, who is 14-14 at 112; sophomore Jared Sell, who is 15-17 at 125; and Jeff Haga, who is 23-12 at 171.

Bremerton’s hopes rest on Richardson

Junior Lauren Richardson became Bremerton’s first female wrestler to win a state championship when she did so in 2009, and now the 103-pounder is looking to repeat.

Richardson secured last year’s title by pinning Jomae Alewine of Lake Stevens High School, who returns and is on the opposite side of the bracket, meaning there could be a rematch of last year’s title contest.

Coach Jeff Barton said Richardson “is looking really good” going into the weekend. She is 21-7 and undefeated against female wrestlers at 6-0.

Nicknamed “Buzz Saw,” Richardson pinned all of her opponents to secure a regional championship last weekend.

“She’s hungry again, and we know what’s ahead of us,” Barton said. “How bad does she want it? She wants it bad.”

Richardson opens the tournament at 10 a.m. Friday against Kendra Smith of Rogers High School of Puyallup.

The lone Bremerton wrestler to advance to Mat Classic on the boys side is Nico Sebastian, who is an alternate at 112.

Yeik, Olympic limp into state

After a third-place finish at regionals, the Trojans are focusing on getting healthy before Mat Classic.

The team’s senior leader and captain, Branden Yeik, is nursing a soar ankle and didn’t compete at regionals. It is an untimely injury for Yeik, who won a state title at 130 in 2008 and placed second at 140 in 2009.

Ranked No. 2 in the state at 145 by Washington Wrestling Report, Yeik has lost just once this season. He opens Mat Classic against Michael Przystupa of Juanita High School.

“He’s trying to get healthy, so we’ve been taking it easy with Branden,” coach Steve Polillo said.

Sophomore Cody Yeik, Branden Yeik’s younger brother, will make his state-championships debut.

Coming off a regional tournament in which he pinned North Kitsap High School’s Jake Velarde in the title match at 112, Cody Yeik opens against Alec Greiwe, a sophomore from Bainbridge High School. Yeik said earlier this season he wants to become a three-time state champion.

Senior Jesse Borcherding, meanwhile, will have a chance to improve upon his fifth-place finish at Mat Classic in 2009. The 130-pounder — he wrestled at 125 last year —faces Everett High School’s Joel Palabrica in the first round.

Caleb O’ Halek, a 160-pound sophomore, and Matt Hoyt, a 152-pound senior, round out the Trojans’ state participants.

Cougars send a quartet

Class 4A Central Kitsap is sending four wrestlers to the state championships, led by returning participant Joey Troyer.

The junior lost both his matches at the 2009 tournament at 112, but he returns with more experience at 119, coming off a fourth-place finish at regionals.

Brothers Evan Beck (125) and Ethan Beck (140) also will compete at state, accounting for half the Cougars’ representation. The Becks took fourth in their respective weight classes at regionals and are making their first appearances at state.

Ian Sprecher, a 130-pounder who also took fourth at regionals, rounds out the Central Kitsap cast.