Winter is the season that Olympic Peninsula athletes go inside to not just hit the hardwood. A large number of them also hit the mats.
The North Olympic Peninsula is a mecca for wrestling with hundreds of boys and girls taking up the sport in Forks, Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend.
Last season, a total of 36 North Olympic Peninsula wrestlers qualified for the prestigious Mat Classic state championship — and 18 of them placed, including a state champion in Forks, Luke Dahlgren, who graduated and now plays football at Eastern Washington.
Forks Spartans
Forks won the Evergreen 1A League and finished third in the state last year, the Spartans’ highest finish since 2014, with Dahlgren winning his 285-pound weight division and Colby Demorest making it to the championship bout of his 182-pound division.
In fact, a total of 12 Forks wrestlers placed at the Mat Classic last year, but seven of them, including Dahlgren, Demorest and Tristen Pisani (who was fourth at state last season and was recently killed in a shooting), graduated last year.
Forks has five state placers returning this year — Jake Weakley, Colton Duncan, Hayden Baker, Hayden Queen and Andres Santos-Delacruz. Weakley, Duncan, Baker and Queen all finished seventh while Santos-Delacruz finished eighth. Another Forks grappler, Ariel Morales, placed fourth at the Mat Classic in 2018.
So, while Forks likely can’t match last season’s third-place finish at state, the cupboard is certainly not bare. An Evergreen 1A title is still a goal as is placing in the top 10 at the Mat Classic.
On the plus side, the Spartans have a huge squad out as usual with 24 boys hitting the mats for Forks.
Head coach Bob Wheeler isn’t expecting this year’s squad to be as dominant as last year with all those top wrestlers graduating. He said Dahlgren in particular will be hard to replace because of his maturity and leadership.
“There’s kind of a void there about who can take charge,” Wheeler said. “We have some good juniors and good sophomores, but only two seniors [Duncan and Ethan Gossard]. There is a void of leadership. There aren’t a lot of Lukes out there.”
Already, Forks has shown that it will continue to be a force to be reckoned with. The Spartans finished sixth at the Patriot Dome Classic and third at the Granger Invitational. Duncan won his weight class at the Patriot Dome and Baker won his weight class at the Granger Invite.
While Forks is pretty strong in the lighter and middle weights, Wheeler said the heavier weights will be hard for the Spartans to fill. Many of those wrestlers who are gone — Dahlgren, Pisani, Eden Cisneros, Demorest and Shane Queen — were in the heavier weight classes. All of the Spartans’ heavier wrestlers are freshmen or sophomores and have little varsity experience.
Wheeler said another nine girls are out for the girls’ wrestling squad, including two veterans from last year — Karen Ensastegui-Salazar and Annhelica Wells.
“This is a good group, they’ve been working hard,” Wheeler said.
Port Angeles Roughriders
The Roughriders are the defending Olympic League champion, going 6-0 in league and placing two wrestlers at state — Riley Gale and Adam Borde. Gale and Basden have graduated, but Borde, who was eighth at the Mat Classic last year, is back at 138 pounds.
“Our grades are good. I really believe we should be able to defend that title,” said coach Rob Gale.
Gale thinks the Riders will be stronger this year in the mid to light weight divisions. Borde has already been a force, winning at the Larry Brown Tournament in Fife.
“We’re further along this year than we ever have been,” Gale said.
So far, the Riders are 1-1 in league, beating Sequim 60-6 and losing 46-22 to a surprisingly strong Klahowya team that joined the Olympic League for wrestling.
The Riders have 33 boys out for wrestling and can fill pretty much all the weight classes. Gale said grapplers to watch include Scott Hedin at 120 pounds who finished second at the Patriot Dome Classic and Josh Boe, who was third at the Larry Brown tourney at 145 pounds.
Zach Gavin, Carlos Rodriguez, Leslie Worthey and Seth Mann are all wrestlers Gale mentioned that should be watched, as well as Jason Kibe Jr., who had a solid season last year. Kibe will wrestle at 195 pounds.
For the girls, the Riders have another four girls out — Liliana Fudally-McMaster, Natalie Johnson, Emalya Salazar and Lily Halberg.
Halberg is a freshman and Gale said she has already shown that she is something special.
“She is the best female wrestler I’ve ever seen or had. She’s going to be good,” Gale said.
Port Townsend/Chimacum
Port Townsend/Chimacum had a very successful showing at the Mat Classic last year as four grapplers medaled. Three of those medalists — Kyle Caldwell (Chimacum, eighth), Gabe Petrick (Port Townsend, fifth) and Dylan Tracer (Port Townsend/third) — should be back this year, though Tracer is somewhat up in the air.
Tracer is an elite wrestler in his 195-pound weight division, but he broke his wrist in the Redhawks’ final football game and will likely be out until the end of January. If Tracer can get in enough regular-season bouts, he can still qualify for subregionals and regionals and possibly make it to state. It will all depend on how quickly he can heal, said coach Stephen Grimm.
“He’s ranked No. 1 in the state. He should be able to achieve it,” Grimm said. “If he can win that state title it will be a Cinderella story you can write about.”
Port Townsend has 22 total wrestlers out. Returners include Wes Blue at 182 pounds and Ian Linn-Glasgow at 152 pounds.
“It’s Ian and Wes and a whole bunch of freshmen,” Grimm said.
Grimm said the Redhawks are solid at 195 with Caldwell and eventually Tracer holding down that division. Linn-Glasgow is solid at 152 and Odin Smith is looking good at 160 pounds. Logan Massie, just a sophomore, went 4-0 this past weekend in two meets at 145 pounds.
After that are a total of 10 freshmen. But, Grimm said from top to bottom, the Redhawks are deeper than in past year. They showed that already by placing fourth at the recent Return of the Seahawk tournament at Class 3A Chief Sealth.
“Last year, our focus was on winning individual matches. We have a chance this year to place as a team. We should be a pretty good team this year,” Grimm said.
There are four girls on the squad — Caitlyn Bedolla, Savanna Hoffmann, Chloe Lampert and Maya Wickens.
Though Lampert is just a freshman, Grimm said she is looking good.
“She loves the sport of wrestling. I expect her to medal [at the girls’ Mat Classic],” he said.
Sequim
Sequim has a very young team and this season, the focus will be on improving, said head coach Erik Wiker.
“We’re down a little. We’re younger and more inexperienced this year,” Wiker said. “Honestly, our goal is to get better.”
Sequim has 19 total wrestlers out — 14 boys and five girls. Wrestlers with experience include Sam Fitzgerald at 150 pounds, Isaiah Cowan at 185 and Truman Nestor at 152.
Also returning for the girls is Aleah Chen, who qualified for the girls’ Mat Classic last year.
