TACOMA — Sequim’s Kiara Pierson finished second in the state at the Mat Classic, while the Forks boys as a team finished fourth with a total of eight Spartan boys placing.
Pierson was beaten 4-2 by Allison Blaine of Hudson’s Bay in a close match in her 135-pound finals match late Saturday. Earlier on the day, Pierson had won three straight matches with pins to get to the championship round.
Pierson, a senior, was the Region 2 regionals champion this year. It was the third straight year Pierson placed at the Mat Classic. In 2017, she came in third at 120 pounds and in 2016, she came in fourth at 110 pounds.
Forks boys
Forks ended up fourth overall as a team at the 1A tournament, with Josue Lucas repeating for the second straight year as state champion at 106 pounds.
Lucas joked one of the first things he did when he won was to eat a huge meal. “I ate a bunch until my stomach hurt” he said. Lucas struggled early this season to make his 106-pound weight and wrestled some tournaments at 113 pounds. “I’m going to gain as much weight as I can,” he said.
In all seriousness, Lucas said he might be done at 106 pounds and is considering wrestling at 113 or even 120 next year. He was able to keep his weight down, partly to help another Forks wrestler compete at 113. “My body got used to it,” he said.
Lucas said he was much more confident this year. Last year, he said he “wrestled nervously,” and he had some very close calls on his way to the championship, winning one match 8-7 and another 6-4.
This year, Lucas simply dominated with a pin in the first round and then wins of 8-2, 16-6 and 10-2 in the championship match.
“This year, I just wanted to destroy every kid,” he said.
Lucas plans to do some year-round wrestling freestyle. He isn’t thinking yet about going for three or four state titles, though he would like to wrestle in college. “It will depend on what offers I can get,” he said.
“We had a good season, and to get into the trophies is always a good year,” said coach Bob Wheeler.
“The best part of the fourth place finish is the expectation of what next year can be. We had eight placers and only one will be graduating. We also had seven other qualifiers, and only one of those was a senior. I hope that everyone learned something from this year’s trip to state so that next year’s trip to state will be even more special.”
Forks came in to the second day of wrestling in second place, narrowly trailing Deer Park. The Spartans ended up holding pretty firm the second day, ending the tournament with 111 points. Deer Park won the state title with 159 points, while Colville was second at 136 points and Freeman third at 116. Forks was one of only five schools in the state with more than 100 points.
Last year, Forks came in sixth in the state as a team.
Also placing for Forks were Ariel Morales (126 pounds) and Luke Dahlgren (220), who each came in fourth in the their weight classes. Colton Duncan (126) finished fifth, while Nate Flores at 285 pounds was injured in his quarterfinals match. He finished the match with a win, but was not able to wrestle the second day.
“He continued to wrestle, and gutted out a great win. However, it was clear that he was not going to be able to wrestle the next day,” said Wheeler.
Colby Demorest (160) and Shane Queen (170) each finished seventh, while Eden Cisneros (195) came in eighth.
Forks’ Ariel Morales defeats Emanuel Troncoso of Zillah with a pin. He went on to place fourth at 126 pounds. (Lonnie Archibald/for Peninsula Daily News)
