TACOMA — Forks is in the best position of any of the North Olympic Peninsula teams going into the second day of action at the state wrestling tournament at the Tacoma Dome.
The Spartans sit fourth in the Class 1A ranks with 58 points, well back of first-place Freeman’s 98. Colville has 60.5, good for second, and Royal is 0.5 points ahead of Forks in third.
Four of the Spartans’ eight quarterfinalists advance to Saturday’s semifinals.
Sebastian Morales at 113 pounds, 120-pounder Alvaro Ortiz, Jack Dahlgren at 182 and heavyweight Miguel Morales are all through with a shot at climbing to the top of the podium after Saturday evening’s final round.
Tristin Tumaua shook off a quarterfinal loss to claim two consolation wins at 285 pounds.
The Spartans’ Javier Contreras, Joel Mohn, Johnny Lua, Reece Moody and Dimitri Sampson were eliminated after posting 1-2 records.
Port Angeles is in sixth place in 2A with 45.5 points after sending three wrestlers through to the semifinals.
Toppenish sits atop the leaderboard in first with 57 points.
Brady Anderson at 126 pounds, Matt Robbins in the 195-pound class and Roberto Coronel at 285 pounds, all advanced for the Roughriders.
Tyler Gale fell in his 106-pound quarterfinal, but won two consolation bracket matches to remain alive.
Ben Basden shook off a first-round loss in the 113-pound bracket to remain alive.
The same is true for Port Angeles’ Kyle La Fritz at 220 pounds.
Cody Anderson and Gavin Crain went 1-2 Friday and were eliminated.
Sequim’s Kevyn Ward went 1-2 in the 152-pound bracket and also was eliminated.
Port Townsend senior Shae Shoop lost 15-0 via technical fall to Class 1A second-ranked Jacob Ellofsen of Montesano in the quarterfinals. He then was eliminated 15-13 by Royal’s Steven Toro.
The Redhawks’ other boys wrestler, junior Jackson Schott, was pinned and eliminated by Naches Valley’s Kramier Patrick at 2:41of their 126-pound contest.
On the girls side, Forks’ Brook Peterson made the 145-pound semifinals, while Tristen Williams will wrestle in the 105-pound semifinals.
Port Townsend’s Chloe Rogers picked up a pin in her second match to advance in the 140-pound bracket.
Ally Bradley went 0-2 at 105 pounds for the Redhawks.
After a last-second defeat in the 125-pound quarterfinals, Sequim’s Alma Mendoza stayed alive in the consolation rounds.
Wolves freshman Kiara Pierson overcame an opening-round loss with two consolation-bracket wins to stay alive.
Kaylee Ditlefsen was eliminated with a 1-2 record after a 7-6 defeat against Yelm’s Bethany Davis.
