YELM — The Forks girls wrestling team sent five athletes into championship matches and finished second overall this weekend at The Prairie Open at Yelm High School in a busy weekend for Olympic Peninsula wrestling squads.
The Spartans boys also finished fourth at the Ocosta Invitational.
The girls finished with 135 points, coming in a close second to host 4A Yelm, which had 141. Most of the other teams at the meet were 3A or 4A schools.
Winning weight championships were Lillianna Galeana at 110 pounds and Jade Blair at 130 pounds. Galeana won with pins over her teammates Kinley Rondeau and Flora Horejsi.
Blair had a tougher road to her title, winning with three pins and a 19-4 technical fall. She beat Jacqueline Moran-Gonzalez of Everett in the championship match with a pin in 46 seconds.
Making it to the championship match and finishing second were Alexis Kekela at 105 pounds and Horejsi at 110. Rondeau finished third at 110.
Riley Tjepkema finished second at 145 pounds with a pair of pins that put her in the championship match.
LaRayne Blair also finished third at 135 pounds. She won her opening match with a pin, lost her semifinal, then won her next two matches, both by pins.
The young Forks boys with a lot of varsity newcomers got first-place finishes from Royer Pablo at 113 pounds and Abraham Montealegre at 126 pounds. Pablo had a pin and a major decision (23-9) over Brycen Parent of North Beach in the championship match. Montealegre, who was third at the Mat Classic last year at 113 pounds, had two straight pins and a tight 12-11 decision in the championship match over Solin Hay of Foss. Montealegre’s win earned 26 points.
The Spartans gathered 124.5 points. Life Christian won the Ocosta meet with 179 points, while Rainier had 146 and Foss 139.5.
Finishing third for the Spartans were Braden Camacho-Roldan at 138 pounds and Luis Ornelas at 165. Landon Thomas at 150 pounds and Brodie Fletcher at 138 pounds both came in fourth.
Simeone Jackson-Cruz at 144 pounds and Jon Parker Jr. at 190 pounds both came in sixth.
Orlando Camacho at 132 pounds didn’t place but went 2-2 in four matches, earning seven points for the Spartans.
Sequim
The Sequim boys wrestling team competed at the White River Classic this weekend with Jaymes Vilona winning his 157-pound weight class. Vilona was dominant, but did it the hard way without getting a pin. He won two matches by technical fall, 17-2 and 21-5, then won the semifinal in a major decision, 13-3. He won the championship match in another technical fall, 17-2 over Joshua Hanson of White River.
Several other Sequim wrestlers placed. Brandon Bair came in third at 106 pounds and James Mason was fourth at 165 pounds.
Ryan Spelker was sixth at 132 pounds and Dylan Bowen was sixth at 215.
Finn Jones was third at the 132 JV weight and Samuel Shinkle was third at 175 JV. Andre Linson was fifth at 157 JV.
East Jefferson
The East Jefferson boys and girls wrestling teams competed at the Return of the Seahawk Invitational at Chief Sealth High School in Seattle.
Manaseh Lanphear-Ramirez, one of the Rivals’ top wrestlers from a year ago, took first at 150 pounds and earned 30 points. Lanphear-Ramirez won his division with three pins and a 6-3 decision over Xavier Nguyn of Chief Sealth.
Grady White at 157 pounds and Rylen Kruse at 175 pounds both placed sixth.
For the East Jefferson girls, Savvy Grimm at 110 pounds came in eighth.
The East Jefferson boys finished with 71 points and the girls 24.
Forks’ Abraham Montealegre, who finished third in the state last year, won the Ocosta Invitational this weekend at 126 pounds. Gibran Garcia of Aberdeen, fourth; Solin Hay of Foss, second; Montealegre of Forks, first; and Bryson Nations of Darrington, third. (Forks High School)
