Issaquah 138-pound wrestler Carson Tanner has his sights set on returning to the Tacoma Dome for the Mat Classic in his final season.
In his sophomore season, Tanner finished sixth at the Mat Classic in the 113-pound division, but an injury during his junior season kept him from returning to the Tacoma Dome. As Tanner embarks on his senior season, he has a list of goals that he hopes leads to another high finish at state.
“Personally, I want to win all of the tournaments that we’re going to, win KingCo, try to win regionals and to place as high as I can at state,” Tanner said.
Even though he has made it to state in the past, Tanner is going to put in the hard work to try and make those goals a reality.
“I’ll have to go to practice every day and work hard, work out outside of practice with my private coach and work on my technique,” Tanner said.
Tanner worked on his freestyle wrestling and attended camps over the summer to prepare for his senior season. He said that he has improved certain areas of his wrestling going into his final year with the Issaquah wrestling team.
“I’ve been working some new top techniques that are going really well and some setups for takedowns,” Tanner said.
Tanner is also set to face some of the toughest wrestlers from Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, Alaska and British Columbia, Canada at The Gut Check wrestling tournament from Jan. 3-4 at the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent. Tanner said he is looking forward to testing himself against the tough competition.
“It’s a tough tournament that all of the top (wrestlers) from the state are invited to,” Tanner said.
Issaquah has gotten off to a great start as a team this season, winning its first four league meets. Tanner’s only loss this season came in the first-place match at the Battle at the Border tournament on Dec. 14. Steilacoom’s Vincent Parry defeated Tanner in that contest.
“I was beating the guy in the finals, but he caught me,” Tanner said. “I learned a lot from it, so I’d rather learn now than later.”
The Reporter asked Tanner a series of questions to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into his life:
What is your favorite food?
Anything chocolate, like shakes. I also like burgers and bread.
What is your favorite movie?
I have some favorite trilogies that I like, “The Dark Knight Trilogy,” “Jason Bourne” and “The Lord of the Rings.”
What is your favorite subject in school?
I like learning about history. I don’t like writing, so anything that involves writing is not as much fun. I like the Civil War period, I like learning about wars in general.
What is your dream vacation?
Any continent besides the Americas. I’ve never been to Europe, Asia or Africa, so one of those would be fun.