The Borderite winter sports season has come to an end, but not before one Blaine wrestler found himself on the podium of the 1A State Championship tournament – otherwise known as the Mat Classic – on Feb. 21 at the Tacoma Dome.
Sophomore Avery Hicks placed fifth in the 285-pound division, the highest mark of any Blaine wrestler in the tournament and one of the highest placements by a 1A Whatcom County wrestler.
Head coach Tom Hinz said the improvements he’s seen from Hicks since the start of his freshman season to ending his sophomore year on the state podium have been impressive, but the wrestler’s attitude and tenacity are what really caught his attention.
“He’s an amazing kid. I think that he’ll have a lot of success,” Hinz said. “I’m sure he has aspirations of being a state champion, but to me, the bigger picture is just Avery’s excitement.”
The rest of Blaine’s massive, 17-wrestler cohort who qualified for the Mat Classic couldn’t quite crack the podium, but picked up individual wins throughout the tournament.
Hinz said he was proud to coach a team that brought the third-most players to the state championship, and called it one of the most fun tournaments he’s coached.
“When you bring 17 people, that means you’re going to have a lot of losses, and you need to prepare yourself for it,” Hinz said. “But it was just one big win after another big win, and it was exciting. This was a tournament where everybody outperformed their expectations.”
Results provided by trackwrestling.com
Blaine sent six wrestlers to the state tournament on Feb. 19, and although none reached a podium finish, the team showed it could compete with the best 1A programs in the state.
Blaine was led by Jasmine Delo-Santos, who reached the quarterfinal round in the heavyweight division. Delo-Santos defeated Sara Tomasikiewicz by fall in her opening round, and won by a close, 12-11 decision over Omak’s Maya Yaksic.
Senior Kiera O’Reilly won two of her four matches, both by fall.
Head coach Damon Higgins told The Northern Light prior to the 1A state tournament that he’s proud of the team made up of many young, promising underclassmen. Now with a Mat Classic appearance under their belts, girls wrestling should be looking to build on this success for next season.
Results provided by trackwrestling.com
Blaine boys basketball was just two wins away from a 1A state tournament appearance before tipping off against Meridian on Feb. 20. A win against conference rival Meridian, and the Borderites would have gone on to face Nooksack Valley for a spot in the dance.
Playing at a neutral site at Lynden High School, the Borderites battled all game, making a nail-biting fourth quarter comeback, but it wasn’t enough to put the team into the next round of the 1A District 1 playoffs. The Borderites lost 49-42.
Junior forward Peyton Bouma led the scoring for Blaine with 18 points and seven rebounds.
Senior forward Landon Melton, who was the team’s leading scorer, finished his final high school basketball contest with 10 points. Melton finished the season with 270 points, good for 13th overall in the Northwest Conference.
Senior Kai Kerwin led the team in assists with six, and did not come off the court the entire game. Kerwin finished his final season with 77 assists, 10th-most in the conference.
Four seniors: Melton, Kerwin, Daniel Banks and Milo Dahl, ended their high school basketball careers on the floor of Lynden’s gym that night. Head coach Chas Kok commended the cadre of upperclassmen for leading their team all year, but especially through one final comeback attempt against Meridian.
“I was really proud of our guys, specifically our seniors, because in that moment, they could’ve gone one of two directions. They chose to dive into their teammates and play for each other,” Kok said. “I was really proud of our effort.”
The Borderites finished the season with a 5-19 record in a supremely challenging and competitive Northwest Conference. Whatcom County teams were scheduled to compete in state championship tournaments starting March 4.
Stats provided by whatcompreps.com
