Hayden Queen made the most of his opportunity this weekend at the Mat Classic state wrestling championships.
Queen, wrestling in his final tournament for Forks, won three straight matches with pins to take the 2B state title in the 182-pound division. He’s the latest in a long line of Forks individual wrestling champions.
Queen’s performance helped Forks finished fourth as a team, the Spartans’ eighth-straight top-10 finish at the Mat Classic.
It was a tough couple of years for Queen. As he put it: “I’ve been chasing this for four years.”
Not only did Queen and his teammates have their season cut short last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, wrestling was hit hard this year by the omicron surge. At one point, it looked like the Mat Classic simply wasn’t going to happen.
In the end, it went off without a hitch and this week, Queen is one happy grappler.
Athlete of the Week is sponsored by Swains General Store in Port Angeles.
