Wrestling: Three Wolves place at Klahowya tourney

A trio of Sequim wrestlers earned spots on the podium at the 15-team Keigan Langholf Memorial Tournament at Klahowya Secondary School in Silverdale on Feb. 1.

Aleah Chen went 1-1 and placed second in the girls’ 140 division, including a first period pin of Central Kitsap’s Barbara Vicente (1:55).

Teammate Alexi Rampp-Taft went 2-2 and placed fourth in the girls’ 130-pound weight class. After a first round loss the SHS senior picked up pins of two Chief Sealth wrestlers: Maria Perez (0:39) and Eden Lopez (2:55), before falling to Lily Halberg of Port Angeles in the consolation final.

On the boys’ side, SHS junior Isaiah Cowan went 1-2 and placed fourth at 195 pounds. Following a first round bye, Cowan pinned Central Kitsap’s Hayden Wallis in 2:44, then dropped a 7-5 decision to Kyle Caldwell of Port Townsend in the semifinals. Chief Sealth’s Ethan Heathershaw edged Cowan 13-8 in the consolation final.

Sequim’s Ty Coone went 2-2 and just missing placing in the 14-wrestler 160-pound weight class. After dropping his first match, Coone rebounded to pin Will Rogers of Gig Harbor in 1:05 and won by injury default over Central Kitsap’s Cy Johnson.

Other Sequim wrestlers picking up wins included Petra Bernsten, who went 1-2 at 145 pounds, and Brandon Linson, who also went 1-2 at 113 pounds.

Sequim grapplers Aaron Tolberd and Sam Fitzgerald (145 pounds) also saw matches at the tourney.

Sequim placed 14th overall in the tourney. Selah cruised to a tourney win with 254.5 points, followed by host Klahowya (147.5) and Bremerton (144). Port Townsend was sixth and Port Angeles was 11th.

Wolves fall in double-dual

Sequim capped its Olympic League season at Bremerton on Jan. 30, falling to the host Knights 60-0 and to North Mason 66-12 to finish an 0-8 campaign.

Faas Christiansen earned Sequim’s lone win on the mat for the evening, pinning North Mason’s Colby Amick 48 seconds into the match. SHS’s Cowan earned a forfeit victory against the Bulldogs.

The short-handed Wolves surrendered nine of the 14 weight classes to forfeits.

Looking ahead

The Wolves vie for postseason wins at a sub-regional tourney set for Feb. 8 at North Mason High School in Belfair.

The West Central District tourney’s 2A tourney is set for Feb. 15, with top grapplers advancing to the MatClassic state tourney in Tacoma Feb. 21-22.