PORT ANGELES — There were numerous outstanding performances by wrestlers from all across the Olympic Peninsula at the 15-team Battle of the Axe held in Port Angeles this weekend, with Forks featuring two boys who went 5-0 on the day and five first-place finishes by area girls.
The Battle of the Axe was a team dual event. In one of the most dramatic duals of the meet, Port Angeles nearly knocked off two-time tournament champion Aberdeen in its opening match, coming within one victory of winning.
Port Angeles went on to beat the JV All-Stars team 67-12 and lost to Forks 48-30. Aberdeen went on to win the tournament, squeaking past Curtis 35-34 for the championship.
“Our best dual of the tournament was against Aberdeen, the last year’s champion and team to beat. We lost 41-34, but it was a tight battle to the last match,” said Port Angeles coach Rob Smith. “Hard loss, but super proud of our wrestlers.”
“Standouts for that dual [included freshman] Drake Spence at 106. He squeezed out a tight victory over Adrian Nunez with score of 1-0 to start us off,” Smith said.
“John Grubbs at 132 won by fall over Jaidon Williams in the second period. [Freshman] Cannon Free won a major decision (13-4) over Cortez Ayala-Paniagua at 150. Cooper Nees beat Glenny Black with decision (8-6) at 165. Oliver Martinez won over Arian Berbati with a quick pin in the first period at 175. A notable upset was by Quinn Messersmith [215 pounds] with a fall in the second period over Jamie Gertson,” Smith said.
Port Angeles’ best showings were by Nees, who went 3-0 on the day, which included two close wins by decision and a pin. Martinez and Messersmith also went 3-0.
Spence finished 2-0 with a forfeit, while Irenio Riggle went 2-1 at 190 pounds. His one loss was a close 3-2 decision to Bryan Sanchez in that match with Aberdeen. John Grubbs went 2-1 at 132 pounds and Kyler Williams went 2-1 at 126. They both lost to Forks wrestlers, with Williams’ loss a close decision to Braden Camacho-Roldan.
Forks competed in five matches, losing to North Kitsap 45-33, beating Kingston 72-6 and tying with North Mason 42-42. After the win over Port Angeles, Forks lost 54-25 against North Thurston.
Forks’ Simeone Jackson-Cruz at 132 pounds and Landon Thomas at 150 had huge days, each going 5-0 in the tournament. Camacho-Roldan went 4-1 at 126 pounds, while Kenneth Daman went 3-0 at 285. Pedro Francisco at 120 pounds and Ryder Fletcher at 144 each went 3-2, while Orlando Comacho at 113 and Luis Ornelas at 157 each went 2-1.
East Jefferson went 0-4 in the tournament, losing 58-21 to Klahowya, 72-12 to Curtis, 54-21 to Bremerton and 45-30 to Sequim. Manaseh Lanphear Ramirez of East Jefferson went 3-0 at 150 pounds, while Ethan Perovich went 2-0 at 175. Silaz Klontz went 2-1 at 190 pounds.
Sequim won its bout with East Jefferson, lost to North Thurston 74-6, lost to Olympic 66-15, lost to Anacortes 55-18 and beat Kingston 66-12.
Johnny Vilona went 3-0 for the Wolves at 138 pounds, while Andre Linson at 165 and Ryan Spelker at 132 each went 2-2.
Girls results
The girls tournament was an individual round-robin rather than team duals.
The top girls wrestler for Port Angeles was sophomore Lilly Lancaster, who took first place at 119-129 pounds with three straight pins.
Sequim had a pair of first-place wrestlers. Harper Campbell took first at 117-128, going 3-0 with three pins, while Story Snow took the 120-127 weight class, also with three straight pins.
Forks’ Jade Blair was first at 126-135 pounds with three straight pins, while East Jefferson’s Ruby Lehman was first at 103-110 pounds. One of her victories was a pin when she was down in her match 7-2.
Also for East Jefferson, Lenore Geelan was second at 145-152, going 2-1, while Violet Weidner was third at 155-167, winning a match.
For Forks, Brianna Salazar was second at 120-127 pounds, going 2-1 on the day with her one loss to Sequim’s Story. Her teammate LaRayne Blair was second at 117-128 pounds, going 2-1 with her one loss to Sequim’s Campbell.
Natasha Fletcher was third at 109-119, while Sara Sifuentes was third at 152-166, with each Forks girl winning a match.
For Port Angeles, Bryelle Wopperer was second at 152-166. She won two matches and was leading in a third when she was pinned by Maiyah Marner of Olympic. The Roughriders’ Mya Hill was second at 114-118 pounds, going 2-1, while Allie Callahan was second at 155-167. Alyssa Romero was third at 120-127 and Maci Martinez third at 168-179, with each girl winning a match.
Persephone Perry at 126-135 took third with a victory. She was down 9-2 to Hannah Weaver of Kingston when she won with a pin. Clara Berry was also third at 145-152, winning a match.
For Sequim, Makenzie Labbe was third at 134-142, winning one of her matches.
