Atascadero High’s Tannen Soojian finishes seventh at state wrestling championships

Atascadero High’s Tannen Soojian placed seventh at the CIF-State Wrestling Championships on Saturday, the first San Luis Obispo County wrestler to earn a medal in three years.

In the seventh place match at 182 pounds, Soojian, a senior, pinned Cajon’s Josh Loomer at 2:27. Soojian is the first county wrestler to finish in the top eight since Paso Robles’ Kevan Garica finished seventh in 2013.

Two other county wrestlers also finished in the top 25. Paso Robles’ Blake Irysh was 24th at 285 pounds, and Arroyo Grande’s Isaiah Rocha was 16th at 138 pounds.

Soojian went 5-2 in the tournament, losing to McNair’s Roman Romero, who reached to semifinals and placed third, and Las Lomas’ Max Bossert, who went on to win the fifth-place match. Both losses were by fall.

In the first-round, he defeated Lucas Olgiati of Monte Vista Christian by fall at 1:27. In the consolation bracket, he defeated Amandeep Kang of James Logan by fall at 1:59, then beat Chico’s Nick Maximov 8-5. He then topped Juan Solis of San Fernando 3-1 to qualify for the medal matches.

Soojian’s season was stellar, as he was the CIF-Southern Section Southern Division champion at 182 pounds, and was second at the CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet.

Rocha, who finished fifth at 138 pounds in the Masters Meet, opened the tournament with a 2-1 win over De La Salle’s Adrian Gomez. In the second round, he lost 6-2 to Dinuba’s Jacob Wright, who went on to reach the title match.

In the consolation bracket, Rocha defeated Leigh’s Leland Ledger 4-0, then lost to Dante Preciado of Castle Park 7-1.

Irysh also won his first match, pinning La Costa Canyon’s Andrew McDonald at 3:04. He then suffered a 1-0 defeat against Nicolas Iversen of Ukiah.

In the consolation bracket, Irysh lost again 1-0 to Hanford’s Armando Barcenas.

It was a tough ending to a strong season for Irysh, who was 38-13 this season, won the Southern Division championship at 285 pounds and was sixth at the Masters Meet.

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Atascadero High’s Tannen Soojian finishes seventh at state wrestling championships."