TACOMA — The Forks boys wrestling team finished fourth in the state and got a state champion in a triumphant return to the Mat Classic.
It was the first time that Forks had a chance to wrestle in the Mat Classic since 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Spartans, one of the top small schools in the state for wrestling, returned in championship form, this year at the 2B level. In recent years, Forks had been wrestling at 1A.
Late Saturday, Hayden Queen became Forks’ latest state wrestling champion. He won his 182-pound title match with a pin in the second round over Ricky Cisneros of Granger.
“It’s a pretty big deal to be one of the few,” said Queen, a senior. “I’ve been chasing it for three years.”
Despite Queen’s championship win, Forks just got nipped at the end of the day for third place by Lake Roosevelt. Forks ended the tournament with 85.5 points, while Lake Roosevelt finished with 87 points. Granger was first place as a team with 161.5, while Tonasket had 156.5.
Forks coach Kyle Weakley said in addition to the two-year wait to get back to the Mat Classic, the Forks wrestlers had to endure a lot of uncertainty this season when the COVID-19 omicron variant surged. Wrestling was hit particularly hard by the surge and a number of meets around the state were canceled. At one point late last year, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association was warning the Mat Classic might have to be postponed or even canceled.
“There was uncertainly every week. Every week was Russian roulette,” Weakley said. “It was nice to be able to have a Mat Classic. It was tough.”
Weakley thought Forks could finish in the top three or four in the state, knowing that Granger and Tonasket were the toughest two teams in the state.
Queen was so dominant that he didn’t have a single match at the Mat Classic that went the distance. He won his quarterfinal over Breaden White of Pomeroy and his semifinal over Jeshua Cwik of Liberty, both with first-round pins. His championship match was the only match of the day that lasted past the first round.
The last state wrestling champion for Forks was Luke Dahlgren, who won it at 285 pounds in 2019. He now plays football at Eastern Washington University. It just so happens that Dahlgren and Queen are cousins.
“He was there at the Tacoma Dome. It was pretty cool,” Queen said. Also at the Tacoma Dome was Jack Dahlgren, another cousin and famed Forks wrestler. Nate Dahlgren is a teammate of Queen’s and wrestled at the Mat Classic this weekend.
Queen credited his coaches and teammates. He agreed that it was a tough year. “I just took it one match at a time. We persevered as a team,” he said.
The Spartans had three wrestlers who finished third — Conner Demorest at 120 pounds, Dalton Kilmer at 126 and Walker Wheeler at 138. Sloan Tumaua finished fourth at 220 pounds.
Forks has finished in the top 10 in nine straight Mat Classics going back to 2013. The Spartans were seventh in 2020, third in 2019, fourth in 2018, sixth in 2017, 10th in 2016, fifth in 2015, second in 2014 and ninth in 2013.
Another top finisher from the Olympic Peninsula was Logan Massie of East Jefferson. Massie made it to the 1A championship match at 170 pounds and was pinned in the second round by Kaeden Kintner of Toppenish to finish second in the state. Massie won his quarterfinal and semifinal by pin and major decision respectively.
Port Angeles’ Natalie Johnson placed eighth at 100 pounds in the girls Mat Classic.
Forks’ Conner Demorest lost to eventual state champion Colton Jackson of Lake Roosevelt in the second round. He bounced back to win two straight to finish third at 120 pounds at the Mat Classic this weekend. (Lonnie Archibald/for Peninsula Daily News)
