BREMERTON — More than two dozen Olympic Peninsula wrestlers competed in the prestigious Hammerhead Invitational in Bremerton, one of the biggest wrestling tournaments in the Pacific Northwest, with two wrestlers from East Jefferson placing.
A total of 88 boys and girls teams from around the state and from Canada and nearly a thousand wrestlers competed in the day-long event at the Kitsap Sun Pavilion.
East Jefferson’s Grady Little, wrestling at 157 pounds, had the top finish of any area wrestler, finishing second in his weight class. He won four matches, all by pins, then lost a 12-6 decision in the finals to Joseph Yefimchuk of Fife, a 2A school.
Joining Little as a medal winner was East Jefferson’s Lily Reed, who finished third at 145 pounds in the girls tournament. Reed went 5-1 on the day, with all of her victories by pin.
Several other East Jefferson wrestlers had good days. Finn Evans at 144 pounds and Rylen Kruse at 175 pounds, each went 3-2. Manaseh Lanpher Ramirez went 3-2 at 150 pounds, losing his final match 8-7 in a sudden victory to William Moran of Life Christian. Ethan Perovich also finished 2-2 at 175 pounds.
The East Jefferson boys finished 27th out of 48 teams with 68 points.
In addition to Reed, Gracee Liske went 2-2 at 125 pounds and Leighton Dunn went 2-2 at 120 pounds.
The East Jefferson girls finished with 43 team points, 23rd out of 40 schools and more than 3A Central Kitsap and 4A Gig Harbor.
Port Angeles
The Port Angeles boys had a couple of outstanding performances at the Hammerhead. Cole Anderson went 4-2 with two technical falls at 165 pounds, while Oliver Martinez went 4-2 at 175 pounds. One of his losses was a close 14-13 decision to Caden Rannow of Bonney Lake.
For the girls, Port Angeles’ Brylle Wopperer went 2-2 at 155 pounds and Lily Anne Lancaster went 2-2 at 120.
Sequim
Sequim’s Aiden Glenn had an outstanding Hammerhead performance, going 4-2 at 175 pounds. Teammate Max Silvilli went 2-2 at 285. For the Sequim girls, Makenzie Labbe at 140 pounds and Storey Snow at 125 each won a match.
PA at Grays Harbor
ABERDEEN — Port Angeles also sent a contingent of wrestlers to the Grays Harbor Championships and had an outstanding showing. Cooper Nees at 175 pounds, Cannon Free at 144 and Andrew Davis at 175 JV all won their weight divisions. Naman Hudson at 126 pounds finished second in his weight class.
For the girls, Kailani Gorum at 130 pounds and Maci Martinez at 190 each finished fourth in their weight classes, as did Presley Daughtery at 235. Alyssa Romero won two matches at 125.
Forks, Port Angeles and East Jefferson are scheduled to wrestle in the North Mason Hawkins Memorial today in Belfair.
