TACOMA — Success in the playoffs often is a continuation of the regular season.

Consider Lucas Pervinich the exception.

The South Kitsap senior never captured a varsity tournament title until Saturday when he earned a 10-2 decision against Timberline’s Hunter Risk in the 145-pound weight class during the Class 4A Narrows League Championships at Foss.

“He’s not the most athletic,” South coach Chad Nass said. “He’s definitely not the strongest. But he’s got a big heart and he goes hard.”

And competes with determination.

“I just kind of wasn’t going to accept anything but a first-place,” said Pervinich, whose previous top finish was second during the Jan. 24 South Kitsap Invitational. “It gives me a good seed into regionals so I can head into state and do well there.”

While the Wolves wrestled Timberline on Dec. 16, Pervinich said he did not face Risk, who competed at 152 then. Pervinich asked Jaxon Moffett for tips on wrestling Risk to no avail.

“Jaxon is the kind of guy who doesn’t focus,” Pervinich said. “He doesn’t remember names. He just goes out there and wrestles.”

That was fine, Pervinich said, because it enabled him to focus on what he needed to accomplish.

“Being aggressive on my feet,” he said. “That’s been a problem in the past.”

The victory against Risk was about more than a milestone accomplishment for Pervinich. He said the win held significance to him because his parents attended high school in Tacoma.

While his parents were raised in the region, Pervinich’s two brothers were born in Ohio and South Korea, while his life began in Katoomba, Australia, before moving when he was 5 years old to Port Orchard.

“It’s kind of weird because I’m the only one in my family with the accent because when you grow up somewhere you listen to all of your fellow people,” said Pervinich, whose father, Mark, is a project manager at Microsoft.

Pervinich is among 11 Wolves to qualify for Friday and Saturday’s regionals at Inglemoor. The top three placers in each weight class advance to compete against 4A KingCo, which was allocated five seeds. Nass noted that the 4A Narrows’ top four seeds out of sub-regionals will qualify for regionals next year, but he was disappointed his league could not receive more now.

“It’s been pretty tough because our league is pretty competitive,” he said. “I think our No. 4s, some of those kids that aren’t going could’ve made it to the state tournament.”

In addition to Pervinich, junior Deion Anderson (113) and senior Marshaud DeWalt (285) won sub-regional titles to help their team to a second-place finish with 288 points behind Yelm (365.5). Anderson needed overtime to earn a 13-11 decision against Yelm’s James Page in the semifinals, but had little difficulty against Bellarmine Prep’s Jed Klein in the final. Anderson won a 10-2 decision.

“Deion just had another great tournament,” Nass said. “He wrestled phenomenal. He’s really locked in right now and he’s going to be tough to beat.”

DeWalt also faced little resistance en route to his championship. He pinned all three of his opponents, including Bellarmine’s Luke Yi in 4 minutes, 41 seconds, for the title.

It appeared that DeWalt pinned Yi just before the end of the second round, as well.

“I don’t know how that wasn’t a pin,” Nass said. “The kid stopped moving. He was flat.”

If that frustrated DeWalt, he never showed it.

“I call him the honey badger because he’s this nice, funny, jovial kid — about as pleasant of a kid as you could ever be around,” Nass said. “Everybody loves him. But you get him on the mat — or any type of competition with him — and he’s ferocious. He’s as fierce of a competitor as they come. Just like a honey badger.”

South also had five second-place finishers. The most notable might have been junior Brandon Forster, who was not able to defend his sub-regional title. Forster, who wrestles at 132 after competing at 126 last year, took an injury default against Yelm’s Jacob Rash in the final. Nass said Forster has missed significant time with undisclosed injuries and it did not make sense to place him at risk once he qualified for regionals.

“We don’t want to send him out there and have him potentially get injured and end his season,” Nass said.

A pair of Wolves, sophomore Ashton Schessler (106) and freshman Sebastian Robles (120), narrowly missed sub-regional titles against Yelm wrestlers. Schessler lost a 4-2 decision against Mason Harrison, while Robles suffered a 3-2 setback against Thomas Munoz.

“That might be the best thing that happens to him because I know that kid and he’s going to train like a madman,” said Nass, referring to Robles.

Nass also believes the match exposed some tactical issues where Robles can improve.

“That kid wrestled a really smart match and really controlled our hands in the neutral position which really frustrated Sebastian a bit,” he said. “I think we’ve got to come out with a better game plan on how to attack him if he’s going to do that. Sebastian will be ready to go for next week.”

Moffett, a senior, was pinned in 1:22 by Yelm’s Ryley Hallman at 152, while junior Kenny Close lost 5-1 against Bellarmine’s Brennan Moore at 195.

South’s other regional qualifiers include senior Leroy Portillo (106), junior Corey Carter (138) and freshman Nathan Marin (145). Nass said Portillo had the most difficult path after he was pinned in his first match by Timberline’s Nathan Smith. Before the pin, Portillo held a five-point lead in that match. Portillo rebounded to win both of his consolation matches.

“He’s a senior and he chose to fight it out and sure enough he did,” Nass said.

Nass also praised Carter and Marin’s work. He noted that Marin might have been the biggest surprise to advance to regionals considering he lost a junior-varsity match during the Wolves’ final regular-season contest, Jan. 29, at Yelm.

South also had four fourth-place finishers: freshmen Izaiah Davis (182) and Logan Gleason (285), sophomore Stephen Kanekkeberg (195) and senior Chad Mathes (170).

• Makayla Ramirez, a junior at South, placed first at 140 in the 4A girls sub-regionals at Mount Tahoma.

4A Narrows League Championships

Team results-Yelm 365.5, South Kitsap 288, Bellarmine Prep 131.5, Timberline 116.5, Olympia 114.5, Gig Harbor 45, Stadium 22.

First/second place

106-Mason Harrison (Y) d. Ashton Schessler (SK) 4-2. 113-Deion Anderson (SK) d. Jed Klein (BP) 10-2. 120-Thomas Munoz (Y) d. Sebastian Robles (SK) 3-2. 126-Darren Harris (Y) p. Layn Pannkuk (O) 2:25. 132-Jacob Rash (Y) won by default. 138-Logan Pine (O) d. Tanner Page (Y) 8-2. 145-Lucas Pervinich (SK) d. Hunter Risk (T) 10-2. 152-Ryley Hallman (Y) p. Jaxon Moffett (SK) 1:22. 160-Michael Euliss (T) d. James Rodeman (Y) 8-6 OT. 170-Bo Campbell (Y) d. Greg Bowers (Y) 9-5. 182-Blake Moser (GH) d. Jayce Allred (Y) 7-0. 195-Brennan Moore (BP) d. Kenny Close (SK) 5-1. 220-Holden Miller (Y) d. Elliott Villars (BP) 5-1. 285-Marshaud DeWalt (SK) p. Luke Yi (BP) 4:41.

Third/fourth place

106-Leroy Portillo (SK) p. Chaz Poston (O) :15. 113-Parker Risk (T) d. James Page (Y) 6-2. 120-Trevor Shaw (O) d. Diante Wise (S) 3-1. 126-Dakota Benson (Y) d. Josiah Mayo (BP) 4-2. 132-Jacob Nolan (Y) p. Kaleb Jarmon (O) 2:42. 138-Corey Carter (SK) d. Michael Chapelle (Y) 15-5. 145-Nathan Marin (SK) p. Irving Asencio (Y) 3:00. 152-Aaron Chagoya (T) p. Joe Stilnovich (BP) 3:40. 160-Carson Grisaffi (BP) d. Max Batanian (GH) 8-7. 170-Patrick Flannery (O) p. Chad Mathes (SK) 4:20. 182-Tyler Losch (Y) won by default. 195-Ryan Cook (Y) p. Stephen Kanekkeberg (SK) 2:57. 220-Bryce Vaughn (T) d. Noah Littlefield 8-6. 285-Donavan Foster (T) p. Logan Gleason (SK) 2:37.