He might the favorite to win the Class 4A state championship at 189 pounds, but that does not mean South Kitsap senior Conner Hartmann is infallible.

Chad Nass called it a wide step into an arm drag instead of straight forward – and the misstep resulted in the Wolves’ coach and his assistants spending a few minutes with Hartmann. Regardless, Hartmann overcame an early deficit to defeat Thomas Jefferson’s K.W. Williams, 9-6, on Saturday at Shelton.

Next, it’s off to the Tacoma Dome for this weekend’s Mat Classic XXIII.

“I’m glad he got a match like that in,” Nass said. “He’s been so dominant this year that he hasn’t had a lot of matches like that. I think that’s great preparation for next week.”

Hartmann agreed.

“He’s just a really athletic kid,” he said. “I need that. There’s definitely lots to improve on.”

Hartmann, who improved his record to 33-0 this season, said that even is the case when someone is undefeated.

“I know the shots, the finishes and everything,” he said. “It’s just the little tunnel things like what they’re going to do next.”

Williams, a quarterback during football season, had the rare distinction of taking down Hartmann, who was the 4A state runner-up last year at 171, twice during the first round. Hartmann trailed 4-1 entering the second period and 4-3 entering the third.

“He had a good move and I was a little flat-footed,” said Hartmann, referring to the takedowns. “I will work on that.”

Hartmann tied the match, 6-all, with 43 seconds left and scored the winning points with just seconds remaining.

“That would be called persistence,” he said. “It really wasn’t a particular move. I look to capitalize on mistakes and that’s easier to do at the end when they are tired.”

He was not the only South competitor to earn a late-match championship win. Senior Cody Barich defeated Tahoma’s Tanner Mjelde, 8-7, at 145.

“He hit a move that’s called an Iranian,” Nass said. “He was in on a high crotch, the guy started coming around the side and he cracked down. He caught the arm and rolled him through.

“The way the rules work in wrestling, as soon as a defensive guy starts to fight off his back, it’s a takedown and the near fall starts being counted.”

It was the second consecutive regional championship for Barich, who won the 135 class last year. He needed to overcome a difficult start to repeat.

“He caught me in the first round on my back,” Barich said. “Being down 5-0 was a big gap to come back from.”

Those performances helped the Wolves finish second in the 17-team field with 146 points. Tahoma won the event with 229 points.

Two other seniors, Terrill Wilson (119) and Greg Morrison (135), finished second. Wilson lost a 9-0 decision against Tahoma’s Steven Hopkins, while Morrison had an 8-3 setback versus Tahoma’s Dan Haniger.

They are among the seven wrestlers and three alternates South will send to Mat Classic XXIII. Junior Brenden Hartshorn (third place, 140), and seniors Kris Fenton (fourth, 152) and Michael Neiner (third, 171) placed in the top four to automatically qualify. Fifth-place finishers Kolby Fenton (103), Bryce Broome (145) and Sam Skinner (160) are alternates.

“We’re greedy and would’ve liked to have had more,” Nass said.

The Wolves qualified 12 wrestlers for state last year, but Nass said they competed in a tougher region this season.

“The level of wrestling here was a lot better than last year,” he said.

Nass said this week’s preparations will be similar to swimming, where athletes taper to be refreshed for state.

“We’ve got a lot of technical stuff to work on,” he said. “You want to be fresh and healed up by the time you roll around for the state tournament.”

Class 4A Region III Wrestling Championships

Team scores-1, Tahoma 229; 2, South Kitsap 146; 3, Kentwood 99; 4, Auburn 98; 5, Kentlake 80; 6, Kentridge 74; 7, Central Kitsap 54; 8, Kent Meridian 51; 9, Gig Harbor 49; 10, Mount Rainier 48; 11, Shelton 48; 12, Thomas Jefferson 46; 13, Olympia 41.5; 14, Mount Tahoma 18; 15, Bellarmine Prep 17; 16, Auburn Riverside 15; 17, Stadium 0.

Championship round

103-Brian Alonzo (Aub) d. Tim Whitehead (Tah) 8-3. 112-Ruben Navejas (KW) wins by default Hayden Peterson (KW). 119-Steven Hopkins (Tah) d. Terrill Wilson (SK) 9-0. 125-Jesse Vaughn (Tah) p. Jakeob Garrick (She) 3:59. 130-Colton Marlowe (KL) d. Sean Farr (KL) 8-7. 135-Dan Haniger (Tah) d. Greg Morrison (SK) 8-3. 140-A.J. Atoigue (MR) d. Josh Smith (KM) 9-5. 145-Cody Barich (SK) d. Tanner Mjelde (Tah) 8-7. 152-Zeke Nistrian (TJ) tf. Austin Torres (KW) 16-1. 160-Matt Hopkins (Tah) d. Garret Autrey (Tah) 10-7. 171-Jeff Seid (KR) d. Richard Anau (MT) 9-6. 189-Conner Hartmann (SK) d. K.W. Williams (TJ) 9-6. 215-Dylan Rutledge (Aub) p. Joel Anthony (O) 4:43. 285-Nick Conlan (Aub) p. Kyle Lanoue (CK) 2:44.

Third/fourth

103-Alex Davidson (MR) p. Kenny Hobbs (KR) 2:25. 112-Gabe Boynay (Tah) p. Ty McCullough (She) 4:43. 119-Nick Aliment (KR) d. Dalton Meyers (KW) 7-0. 125-Joey Troyer (CK) d. Jordan Jolley 4-0. 130-David Ladenburg (BP) d. Kyle Iverson (GH) 5-1. 135-Jacob Spadoni (GH) d. Daniel Couch (KR) 5-1. 140-Brenden Hartshorn (SK) d. Tucker Mjelde (Tah) 5-3. 145-Tilden Sansom (Aub) d. Alex Pieris (MR) 8-5. 152-Ben Small (GH) d. Kris Fenton (SK) 9-4. 160-Colby Barber (She) p. Tarin MacDonald (Aub) 3:10. 171-Michael Neiner (SK) d. Jesse Keliliki (KL) 6-2. 189-Luke Barzie (KM) d. Albert Tadevosyan (KW) 3-2. 215-Daniel Park (KW) d. Aaron Davis (Tah) 7-4. 285-Jean-Claude Atkinson (KM) d. Jake Baker (GH) 13-5.

Fifth/sixth

103-Kolby Fenton (SK) d. Ian Franz (BP) 6-0. 112-Jeff Harjenausen (KL) p. Colin Bryant (SK) 4:27. 119-Cruz Velasquez (Tah) p. Warren Sprecher (CK) 4:40. 125-Jose Hernandez (KW) d. Josh McCarthy (BP) 5-1. 130-Ian Sprecher wins by default Arthur Sargent (KR). 135-Austin Kandior (Tah) p. Eduard Yakimchuck (AR) :41. 140-Gabe Carrillo (KL) d. Adam Coffman (She) 9-6. 145-Bryce Broome (SK) p. Ty Zumwalt (TJ) 1:23. 152-Tyler Kahl (CK) d. Chris McElroy (Tah) 12-5. 160-Sam Skinner (SK) d. Tanner Wright (O) 9-4. 171-Jason Greely (AR) d. Brett McDonald (CK) 13-3. 189-Justin Henry (O) d. Tanner Hartsoch (O) 10-3. 215-Andrew Wetzel (KR) d. Eddie Meisner (SK) 8-7. 285-Nathan Meeks (KL) p. Connor Wilmovsky (O) :59.