PORT ANGELES — More than 220 boys and girls wrestlers from 16 teams around Washington competed at the annual Port Angeles Battle of the Axe on Saturday, with Forks doing the best of the Olympic Peninsula teams in fifth place.
The Battle of the Axe is not a traditional bracket-style tournament with wrestlers winning individual medals. Instead, schools compete as a team against other schools in a dual-style tournament.
Winning the tournament championship was Camas team No. 1 with Silas second, Klahowya third, Fife fourth and Forks fifth.
All four Olympic Peninsula wrestling programs competed. Sequim came in ninth, Port Angeles 11th and East Jefferson 14th.
Forks
Forks’ Walker Rondeau, bottom, attempts to upend Camas No. 2’s Gage Lieziert during Saturday’s Battle of the Axe tournament at Port Angeles High School. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
In the first three round-robin duals, Forks beat the JV All-Stars 60-21, beat East Jefferson 54-18 and lost to Fife 51-30. In the consolation bracket, Forks beat Camas team No. 2 42-39, then beat Olympic 51-30 to finish fifth. The Spartans went 4-1 on the day as a team.
Walker Rondeau, Abraham Montealegre, Jesus Garcia Dominguez and Sloan Tumaua all had outstanding tournaments for the Spartans. Rondeau went 5-0 on the day, winning all of his matches with pins. Tumaua went 4-0 on the day, not counting a forfeit win, winning all of his matches by pin, while Montealegre at 120 pounds also went 4-0, all by pin. Dominguez went 3-0 at 113 pounds, winning all his matches by pins.
Aiden Ivey at 157 pounds went 4-1 on the day, while Walker Wheeler at 150 pounds went 3-1.
Sequim
Sequim started off losing to Olympic 42-26, then bounced back to beat Foss 44-31. The Wolves beat Port Angeles 58-16, then lost to Washington 42-31.
Jaymes Vilona at 144 pounds went 4-0 on the day with three technical falls and a decision.
Cayden Beauregard at 120 pounds went 3-1 on the day with another win by forfeit. Johnny Vilona at 132 pounds, Roger Burwash at 165, Ari Skov at 175 and Dylan Bowen at 190 all won three matches.
Port Angeles
Port Angeles began by losing to Klahowya 45-36, then lost to North Thurston 51-21 and then to Sequim. The Roughriders picked up a victory, beating the JV All-Stars No. 1 team 34-18.
John Grubbs at 132 pounds went 3-0 on the day with a pair of pins. Oliver Martinez at 165 pounds went 2-1 and added a pair of forfeit wins.
Faye Dachs at 120 pounds, A.J. Martinez Jr. at 175 pounds and Quinn Messersmith at 215 pounds all had three wins.
East Jefferson
East Jefferson lost to Fife 62-9, to Forks, beat the JV All-Stars No. 2 team 33-30 and lost to Foss 65-12.
East Jefferson had a pair of wrestlers who had outstanding tournaments.
Manaseh Lanphear-Ramirez at 150 pounds went a perfect 5-0 on the day with three pins and two decisions. Grady White at 138 pounds went 4-1 on the day, with three pins and a major decision.
Girls
Though some girls wrestled in the team Battle of the Axe, there was also a separate individual girls’ tournament.
Natalie Horejsi of Forks had the top showing among local wrestlers, finishing first in the 114-119 weight division. She won all three of her matches by pins.
Forks’ Riley Tjepkema finished second at 136-142 pounds by going 2-1 on the day, winning both of her matches by pin.
Port Angeles’ Aiya Allen was second at 133-144 pounds, winning a match. Sequim’s Ariana Beauregard won a match at 97-105 pounds to finish third, and her teammate Bailey Stein finished third at 120-121 pounds by winning a match.
Forks’ Aiden Ivey takes on Camas No. 2’s Liam Wakimoto in the 157-pound class on Saturday at the Batte for the Axe in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS Klahowya’s Colton Dell, top, struggles to keep above Port Angeles’ Quinn Messersmith in the 215-lb. division on Saturday at Port Angeles High School.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS Port Angeles’ Oliver Martinez, right, looks for the advantage over Klahhowya’s Darius Hentze on Saturday in Port Angeles.
Sequim’s James Smith, top, takes on Port Angeles’ Ronan McGuire in the 157-pound weight class at Saturday’s Battle of the Axe in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Sequim’s Dylan Bowen, top, tries to contain Port Angeles’ Hunter Blore in the 190-pound category on Saturday at the Battle of the Axe tournament at Port Angeles High School. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Sequim’s Jayms Vilona, top, brings down Olympic’s Gabriel Eriz in the 144-pound division in the early rounds of Saturday’s Battle of the Axe in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
