Makenna Lausier is headed to the Mat Classic XXXVI state tournament after she placed first at the WIAA District 1 1B/2B/1A girls wrestling tournament on February 15.
Makenna, who wrestles in the 105-pound weight class, will go to the Tacoma Dome to compete for a state title Friday, February 21 and Saturday, February 22.
Blaine girls wrestling placed second at the district tournament, qualifying the team for state.
Makenna has been having a dominant senior season. After going to the state tournament last year, she wrestled her way back into another Mat Classic tournament.
“I would like to place at state,” Makenna said. “But I didn’t think I was going to get this far so I can be proud that I’ve made it this far in wrestling.”
Blaine head coach Damon Higgins taught Makenna in sixth grade and encouraged her to join the wrestling team that following year.
“I had a couple friends who he also tried to get into wrestling, so it felt like a good opportunity to try it,” Makenna said. “I honestly didn’t think I was going to stick around this long.”
She has wrestled ever since Higgins’ recruitment in seventh grade.
“She’s a workhorse, she can beat up on anyone,” Higgins said. “Mak has ‘Mak-attack mode,’ where she’ll get mad at herself and she’ll start tearing into her opponent.”
Makenna tore into the competition at the district tournament, pinning her opponent in every match she won. This was her third first-place finish after she won the Santa Slam Juanita Tournament and the Woolley Women’s Tournament earlier this season.
“We put together a pretty hard tournament schedule,” Higgins said. “I’ve tried to keep us seeing 3A or 4A girls because generally they bring better athletes.”
Due to the tough regular season competition, Higgins said Makenna is prepared to compete for a state title.
“A big factor is being in a good head space of being prepared to wrestle,” Makenna said. “I used to be super nervous and really anxious before matches.”
The state tournament will be her last matches as a wrestler for Blaine.
“I put so much time and effort into the sport,” Makenna said. “It feels weird that I might not do it ever again.”
Makenna is planning on attending college but doesn’t intend on wrestling after she graduates from Blaine High School. Instead, she will focus on academics, which she has excelled at so far.
“She’s able to listen and understand things from the first time,” her mother Renee said. “She’s always working on stuff.”
Makenna has been a scholar at Blaine High School and is even doing Running Start to accelerate her transition to a university.
“I definitely have to work hard to make sure that I get all of my homework done,” Makenna said. “I feel like it’s gotten a lot easier since last year. I had a lot of difficult classes.”
Right now, she would like to attend the University of British Columbia.
She has dual citizenship since her father, Fritz, was born in Canada.
Looking back on her senior year with the wrestling team, Makenna said she will miss the things the team experienced off the mat more than the wrestling.
“I have a lot of memories of driving back from tournaments,” Makenna said. “People singing along to songs really loudly and having fun even after long tournaments.”
One great memory would be placing on the podium at state, Makenna said, something she fell short of last season. In order to bounce back this year, she will have to wrestle clean.
“We’re really looking to eliminate small errors,” Higgins said. “One small error and a really bad wrestler can beat a really good wrestler.”
Makenna has the physical and mental skills to make a state title run this weekend with her team, Higgins said.
“I firmly believe she will be on the podium this year,” Higgins said.
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