A shorthanded wrestling squad saw its young team try to prove itself sooner than expected last week.
Sequim traveled to play Klahowya on Jan. 9 for a tough 69-9 loss. Two wrestlers kept the Wolves on the board though.
Freshman wrestler Alma Mendoza won 10-5 over Caden Haga at 120 pounds and sophomore Kevyn Ward (145) pinned Gavin Hawlet in 2:46 after breaking a 4-4 tie.
Coach Charles Drabek said many wrestlers have been out due to injuries and illnesses so JV wrestlers moved in to fill some spots.
Freshman Kelvin Solis (220) got to wrestle at the varsity level, which he was nervous about, Drabek said but Solis showed improvement even with being pinned by Jesse Spencer in 1:39.
Sven Wiker, another freshman, (138) played a touch match in overtime but lost 9-7 to Dustin Parker.
Sequim remains winless in head-to-head match-ups this season, and they forfeited six matches against the Eagles due to illnesses/injuries.
They wrestled in Port Angeles against the Roughriders and the Port Townsend Redskins on Tuesday, so look for results next week. The Wolves host Bremerton at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16.
More tourneys
The team split up for two tournaments on Saturday, Jan. 11, with the varsity squad heading to the Bainbridge Island Invitational and the JV team to Juanita High School for round robin matches.
In Bainbridge, Sequim took 11th with 16 points.
Ward (145) wrestled well for fourth place going 2-2 on the day. He pinned Byambasuren Delgersaikhan of Shelton in 42 seconds for his first win before losing to eventual second place finisher Gabe Wallis of Klahowya 4-1. In a narrow victory, Ward defeated Alec Manke of Shelton 11-10 before losing to Chaplyn Mack of Mountlake Terrace 9-8 in the battle for third.
Ty Jones, also in 145 pounds, lost to Manke in the first round 10-2 but pinned Paxton Nayman of Bremerton in 3:48 for seventh place. Nick Kovach (132) also placed seventh.
At Juanita High School, Adam Schaefer (182) went 3-0 with three pins for a first-place medal.
The wins were Schaefer’s first of the season along with Jadon Spaulding (138) and Dylan Perreira (160), both freshmen, who finished 1-2.
Shaun Jones (152) finished 2-1, while Wiker, Mendoza and Kaylee Ditlefsen went 1-2.
Drabek said he and fellow coach Bill Schroepfer were pleased that the students are starting to progress in moves and skill sets they’ve worked on in practice.
Mendoza faced tough competition in the girls’ bracket, Drabek said, but it will give her a heads up for her competition at state. Ditlefsen continues to wrestle after recovering from the flu, too.
