It takes a lot to impress Renton High junior Armin Basic. Despite making it to the state tournament in three sports this school year and being named the Renton Reporter’s Prep Male Athlete of the Year, he expects more.
“I have to go back to the gym and get better,” Basic said. “I had higher expectations for this year.”
One of the biggest moments of the year for the 6-foot, roughly 200-pound Basic was during football season, when the Indians knocked off perennial Seamount power Evergreen 23-22. Evergreen scored late in the fourth quarter to move to within one point – all that was left was the two-point conversion. If the Wolverines converted, they would win, if they didn’t convert, the Indians would win.
Evergreen’s Nuve Kongaiaka had already converted two two-point attempts that game with runs up the middle. Basic recalls the play. “I was right in the middle, right where the tackle was. That was their guy, we knew he was going to get it and take it right up the middle.”
The Indians stopped Kongaiaka and completed the big upset. That win helped earn Renton a trip to the preliminary round of the 3A state tournament against Mount Vernon, where the Indians’ season ended with an emotional 20-12 loss.
“Coming in, we thought we could beat those guys,” Basic said. “After the game it was just disappointment.”
Basic played linebacker, fullback and tight end for the football team. Football is his favorite sport of his three.
Moving into wrestling season, Basic said he spent most of practice time bringing newcomers on the team up to speed on the fundamentals, so he couldn’t advance his own skill as much as he would have liked.
“I mostly re-learned stuff instead of learning new stuff,” Basic said. He went on to say that with a more experienced team next season, he expects to definitely perform better.
Even in what Basic called a disappointing season, he made it to the 3A state wrestling tournament. He fell in the first round to Everett’s Kramer Burns. Basic rebounded in the next round to take out Lakeside’s Matthew Raine. Kennewick’s Ruben Espinoza then ended Basic’s state run in the next round.
Basic then made the 3A state track meet in the shot put, where he placed 16th. Basic placed second at the Seamount League meet in his favorite event, discus, but a foul at districts cost him a potential state berth in that event. If he would have gone to state in the discus, his season-best distance of 163 feet, 3 inches, would have been the third-best overall.
“I concentrated on working in the gym this year,” Basic said. “Next year I need to work more on my technique.”
For Basic, the goal for his senior season is simple.
“A championship in all three sports,” he said. “That’s been my goal since freshman year.”
Adam McFadden can be reached at amcfadden@reporternewspapers.com or 425-255-3484, ext. 5054.
