Sequim wrestlers showed some resiliency last week after a tough loss to Klahowya.
The Wolves opened their busy week with a 56-28 dual meet loss in Silverdale to the Eagles on Wednesday, Jan. 4.
Three wrestlers won their matches — Craig Baker, 145, defeated Caden Hays 10-0; Travis Baker, 152, pinned JD Keyenes in 1:07; and McKenzie Stockdale, 220, pinned Dylan Leer in 5:41, while the rest of Sequim’s points came by forfeit.
Sequim’s head coach Bill Schroepfer said he told his team the following day before a home match-up with Bremerton that the loss didn’t look like what they were capable of doing.
The message must have resonated with the team as Sequim bounced back to win 49-16 over the Knights.
“We didn’t come out on fire (against Klahowya),” Schroepfer said. “Tonight they did. You always want to wrestle better at home.”
The Baker brothers both won again, with Craig, 145, winning 10-1 over Edmond Taylor, and Travis, 152, won 7-6 over Diamante Hall.
Sequim’s other wins came by pin or forfeit with Ben Newell, 132, pinning Alex Mafnas in 1:22; Grant Pierson, 160, pinning Ben Mabrey in 3:54; Adrian Klarich, 182, pinning Chris Figurus in 3:43; and Dylan Perreira, 195, pinning Josh Watta in 5:43.
Schroepfer said he was proud of the team’s efforts but they all have things to continue to work on such as covering hips and shoulders better.
“We need to make them carry our weight instead of the other way around,” he said.
See photos from the Bremerton match-up here.
Boys win Bainbridge
Sequim’s varsity boys took the team title at the Bainbridge Island Invite on Jan. 7 over 11 other teams, scoring 182.5 points. Port Angeles came in fifth with 112 points.
Craig Baker continued his winning streak taking the 145-pound bracket with a pin, a 15-0 win and a 9-2 win over Zach Streun of North Kitsap.
In the same bracket, Sequim’s Hayden Gresli got a pin in his first match and lost his second but won 7-5 over teammate Chris Puksta in the consolation, and followed it with a pin and a 17-2 third place win over Trey Padget of Marysville Getchell.
Sequim’s Pierson won the 160-pound weight class winning his first match 14-4, 5-3 in his second and pinning Jonah Andrews of Mercer Island in 1:59 in the title match-up. For 182 pounds, Adrian Klarich pinned his first two match-ups in 1:41 and 5:16 before winning by injury default over Donnie Howard of Mercer Island. McKenzie Stockdale won 220 with two matches and two pins in 3:28 and 3:59.
At 170 pounds, Austin Budd took third by sweeping the consolation bracket with three straight pins. Dylan Perreira won third in similar fashion in the 195 bracket winning his consolation matches with a 4-2 win and a 17-3 win over teammate Tyler Dean.
Other Wolves who placed include Kyle Kopfenstein who took fourth at 106, Dalton Brown took fifth at 120, and Murray Bingham took fifth at 152 and Travis Baker sixth with Bingham winning after an injury kept Baker out.
Lady Wolves take on Kelso
At the Kelso Girls Invite on Jan. 6-7, Sequim’s Lady Wolves took took 17th with 69 points with six wrestlers. Yelm won the tourney of 67 teams with 242 points and 14 wrestlers.
Sequim’s Kiara Pierson, 123, wrestled to the championship round by pinning Marissa Cabalse of Puyallup in 1:29 to start her tournament. Then she pinned Skyview’s Abby Palandrani in 58 seconds followed by a 10-2 win over Nia Lawes of Bonney Lake and a 5:50 pin of Allison Wells of Homer. In the championship, she lost 8-1 to Kaylee Moore of Naches Valley.
Sequim’s Alma Mendoza also took second at 155 pounds after losing by pin in 3:56 to Kathleen Flanagan of Wilson.
Mendoza pinned her first two opponents in 26 seconds and 4:34 before her third opponent forfeited.
Aylee Bennett, 145, went 3-2 at the tournament opening with a first match pin but came back in the consolation to win by pin 33 seconds, 7-1 and 4-3 before losing 4-1 to Malia Aparis of Decatur.
Sequim’s Sarah Uhlmer won one match at the tournament by forfeit and narrowly lost 2-1 to Centralia’s Angie Contreras in the consolation.
This week Sequim faces Port Angeles, Forks and Port Townsend in double dual meets on Thursday, Jan. 12, in Port Angeles.
In a dual meet with Bremerton, Sequim’s Adrian Klarich, 182, fights his way towards a pin against the Knights’ Chris Figurus in 3:43 on Jan. 5. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash
