With two firsts, two seconds and four fifth places, Blaine boys wrestling narrowly won the regional tournament last weekend by a half-point. The Borderites scored a total of 187 points while Eatonville had 186.5 and Mount Baker notched 185.5 points.
Head coach Tom Hinz said the team was behind going into the medal rounds but with the boys grabbing six pins, they were able to secure the win.
“We wrestled pretty good,” Hinz said. “We went in with the idea we were going to win regionals. It was a little closer than we expected.”
Blaine will send eight wrestlers to the state tournament this weekend in Tacoma.
Cael Button and Victor Gervol took first at 126 and 285 pounds, respectively. Jack Cheatham and Nicolaas Chandran placed second at 152 and 195. Then four boys took fifth in their weight classes; Tim Pomeroy at 113, Nahum Vazquez at 132, Alex Welch at 160 and Hunter Burg at 182.
“Cael and Victor were really dominant,” Hinz said, adding they really helped secure the win.
After securing a qualifying spot at state, Button and Pomeroy won academic state championship in their weight classes with 4.0 and 3.99 GPAs.
“Feels really good,” Button said. “I was surprised to get that award.”
Button said he expected to be in the finals at the regional tournament but didn’t expect to dominate as much as he did, getting three pins. At state, he said he hopes to make it to the finals.
“It’s so hard to predict how the state championships will go,” Hinz said. “We are just looking and focused on individual success.”
Hinz said the eight wrestlers going have their own paths that could make it a successful tournament and take them into the finals. If the team focuses on their individual duties, he said they have a chance of doing well.
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