Beauregard placesthird at regionals, punches state ticket

Sequim High senior Cayden Beauregard is headed back to the MatClassic state tournament after posting a 3-1 record and placing third in the 113-pound weight class at the 2A Region 2 tournament at White River High School in Buckley on Feb. 10.

Teammates Jays Vilona (144 pounds) and Ari Skov (175) both placed fifth in their weight divisions and will be alternates to the state tourney.

Beauregard, who placed seventh at 106 at last year’s state tourney, opened with a pin of Steilacoom’s Andrew Stuart in 96 seconds.

In the semifinals, he lost to Washington senior Andrew Lewis 8-4.

Beauregard rebounded quickly, routing Orting sophomore Tyler Brinkman 11-0 with state berth on the line in the consolation semis.

In the third/fourth place seeding match, Beauregard dominated Oden Johnson, a freshman from Fife, with a 16-0 technical fall victory.

Vilona, a junior transfer, opened the tourney strong, pinning Joshua Hanson of White River in 4:57.

In the semifinals he was pinned by sophomore Michael Fritz of Orting in 1:02, and in the consolation semis he lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to Cole Schumacher, a freshman from Enumclaw, losing a 3-2 lead by reversal in the final frame.

Vilona pinned Hanson again in the fifth/sixth place match to earn the alternate berth.

Skov, who was a state alternate in 2023 as a junior and wound up wrestling after a competitor was unable to compete, lost his first match by pin to Jacob Warner of Steilacoom in 3:07, but came back to defeat Orting freshman Isaiah Gilcrist, 11-0.

In the consolation semis, senior Morgan Paul pinned Skov in 4:30.

Skov rebounded to edge Washington senior Orekene Tuivaiave, 4-2, for fifth place.

Sequim junior James Mason (150 pounds) and sophomores Ryan Spelker (120) and Johnny Vilona (126) each lost their two matches and did not place, while freshman Brandon Bair dropped his pigtail match at 106 pounds.

Orting overwhelmed the competition at districts for the team title with 315 team points, easily outdistancing North Kitsap (117) and White River (114.5). Sequim was 13th out of 16 teams.

The MatClassic tournament is Feb. 23-24 in Tacoma.