Boys, girls wrestling show out at Districts, send 15 to state tourney

The Blaine wrestling program had another banner weekend at the District 1 tournaments on February 15, sending at least 15 wrestlers to the Mat Classic XXXVI at the Tacoma Dome to compete for a state championship, starting Friday, February 21.

The boys team took first place in the district championship, and girls took second place.

Tickets for the tournament are on sale now at wiaa.com/tickets, and start at $37 for a two-day pass for adults or $25 for students, seniors or military, and single-day passes start at $22 for adults and $15 for students, seniors or military.

Boys wrestling

The Blaine boys wrestling team runs on high expectations, especially against Northwest Conference opponents like the ones it faced off against at the District 1 1A tournament.

Against wrestlers from Meridian, Mt. Baker and Nooksack Valley, the Borderites showed why its one of the best 1A programs in the county, notching five first-place finishes along with five second-place finishes.

Christopher Zamudio won the 106-pound division with a 14-8 decision over Meridian’s Treyson Lewis-Kelley. Vinnie Saia defeated teammate Cole Voight via forfeit after defeating a Mt. Baker wrestler in the semifinal round; the pair took first and second place in the 120-pound division.

Aidyn Hancock fell in the first place match to Mt. Baker, placing second in the 126-pound division. Daniel Johner defeated teammate Denali Deming for first place in the 132-pound division. In the 138-pound weight class, Matt Campion was defeated by a Mt. Baker wrestler, but defeated a Meridian opponent to earn second place.

Rhys Milligan defeated Mt. Baker’s Gunner McGrath in a 9-4 decision for the 175-pound district title. Zi Yu placed second in the 215-pound weight class, and heavyweight Otto Shelton defeated Mt. Baker’s Jeremiah Sheridan for first place.

All told, 10 Blaine wrestlers earned spots in the state tournament.

“We’re down to the guys who have been just doing the right things all year long,” head coach Tom Hinz said. “They’ve been performing well all year long, it’s just now you get to the state tournament and we’re putting some grease on the wheels. It’ll be a fun week.”

Hinz said there will be plenty of interesting matchups to watch in the tournament, especially the pair of 120-pounders, Sam Saia and Cole Voight. Hinz said most of his wrestlers, though not seeded high, have a shot at making semifinal and final rounds, and a chance to beat anybody in the field.

“Everybody’s ready for state week, you don’t have to motivate anybody for state week,” Hinz said. “The excitement of it makes everybody be where they’re supposed to be.”

Heavyweight Otto Shelton earned the four-seed for the 1A tournament, and will face one of the toughest gauntlets to the final rounds, Hinz said. The 6’3, 275-pound multi-sport athlete had a solid regular season, and will surely look to make a solid postseason run.

“It’s going to be a good match,” Hinz said.

Girls wrestling

Blaine girls wrestling had one of its most successful weekends in team history at the District 1 tournament, sending five wrestlers and five alternates to the Mat Classic XXXVI, and scoring the most total points as a team at a District championship, according to head coach Damon Higgins.

Makenna Lausier won first place in the 105-pound weight class with a win by fall over Mt. Baker’s Kelly Camacho. Julianna Whaley earned a second place finish in the 125-pound division after an injury in the first-place match. Abigail Marquez defeated Mt. Baker’s Sophia Moa by fall to earn first place in the 130-pound division. Analicea Ordonez defeated Stefany Camacho for first place in her division, and Jasmine Delo-Santos defeated Piper Dyck of Meridian by fall to earn a first-place win.

“Blaine wrestling is an absolute force to be reckoned with,” Higgins said, speaking of both his girls team and the boys success this season.

Higgins said the team started out slow this season, going 0-5 in team events to start the year before turning things around and going 6-1 to end the regular season. The young team with only two seniors – Lausier and London Fletcher – couldn’t have picked a better time to get hot.

“I’m excited about our growth,” Higgins said. “We’re young. At the beginning of the year, I had to adjust a lot of expectations to meet our youth. Once I was able to adjust my expectations, it freed me up to coach them differently, because a young team needs a different type of coach than a mature team.”

Higgins has each wrestlers set individual goals for themselves before every practice and every match. He said giving players autonomy to create their own goals allows the team to focus in on the task at hand before each tournament, match and spar.

That method seems to have paid off, with the team sending five girls to wrestle at state and five as alternates.

Not only is Higgins proud of this year’s team and the effort of his duo of seniors who he called “stalwarts” and “leaders,” Higgins said he’s excited for what the future holds as the team matures.

“I’m excited about our next three years,” Higgins said. “Even though in the past we’ve been a small [program], we’re a force. Those girls, I know they’ll bring it each year.”