TACOMA — Forks’ Joel Ward was the lone North Olympic Peninsula wrestler to advance to a state final.
Ward advanced to the Class 1A 220-pound final after earning a 5-2 decision over Teigan Glidewell in Mat Classic semifinal action at the Tacoma Dome on Saturday.
Heading into the championship matches, Forks led Blaine by 2.5 points in the battle for the team championship.
Sebastian Morales (106) and Miguel Morales (285) rebounded from semifinal losses Saturday to earn third-place finishes for the Spartans.
Sebastian Morales fell 2-0 to Vashon sophomore Chase Wickman but came back for a 6-3 win against Blaine’s Kyle Gonzalez and took third after a 4-2 decision over Okanagan’s Anthony Payton.
Miguel Morales fell 17-9 in his semifinal, but picked up the pieces to beat teammate Jake Claussen 5-1.
Morales then earned a measure of revenge in the third-place match, besting Kiona-Benton’s Cody Zyph 9-2. Zyph beat Morales in last year’s 285-pound state final in Morales first season of wrestling.
Nanito Sanchez (132 pounds) placed fourth for the Spartans, knocking Blaine’s Anthony Frey into the fifth-place final with a 2-1 win, before falling 4-2 in overtime to Ramses Rodelo of Warden.
Alvaro Ortiz (113) finished fifth for Forks. He lost 4-0 to Montesano’s Jacob Ellefson but came back to knock off Jojo Saringan in the fifth-place match.
Ricky Barragan (138) also placed fifth for Forks, falling 1-0 to Blaine’s Caleb Frey before winning by injury default over John Lindquist of Quincy.
Claussen (285) fell to Michael Sorensen of Cascade to take sixth place for the Spartans.
Brooke Peterson (145) earned fifth place in the girls tournament, rallying to get a pin with 3.9 seconds left in her match after trailing 8-4.
“I saw the tap girl come in [to tap the referee on the back at the buzzer] and I knew I had to go for the pin,” Peterson said.
“So I gave it all I had and got it.”
Port Angeles
Title hopeful Ozzy Swagerty (126 pounds) fell into the consolation bracket after an 11-7 loss to Toppenish’s Sergio Morales.
Swagerty picked up the pieces to earn a 1-0 win over Sultan’s Jamell Carroll in his next match in the “hardest match of a wrestler’s career,” the match a grappler faces after falling in the semifinals, according to Roughriders coach Erik Gonzalez.
Swagerty then fell in the third-place match to finish fourth.
Roberto Coronel (285) lost for the second time in as many days to Aberdeen’s Jordon Logan, this time by pin at 5:51 of the match.
He rebounded to beat a familiar foe, Olympic’s Umu Timoteo, by pin for the first time this season. He then earned a fifth-place victory by injury default over West Valley-Spokane’s Ricky Miller.
Matt Robbins (182) finished seventh for Port Angeles, losing by pin fall to Ellensburg’s Kerrigan Simpson 2:24 into his match.
Robbins then pinned Lakewood’s Jeff Harrison 4:09 into the seventh-place match.
Port Townsend
The Redskins Shae Shoop (113) and Matt Cain (152) each earned seventh-place medals while competing at the same time on adjacent mats.
It was a thrilling finale for Port Townsend coach Steve Grimm.
“These two wrestlers weren’t ranked or on anybody’s radar earlier this season,” Grimm said.
“They have both come out of nowhere to place at this tournament.
“Matt’s still upset, he wanted a higher finish, but what they did was great and I’m extremely proud of them.”
The state finishes were Port Townsend’s first since Brett Johnson finished third at 160 pounds in 2010.
“I learned a lot and wrestled a lot of high-caliber athletes,” Shoop, a junior and first-time Mat Classic participant, said.
Sequim
Kaylee Ditlefsen charged back through the consolation bracket, winning two matches Friday evening to earn the right to wrestle for a state placement.
Ditlefsen dropped two matches Saturday to finish eighth.
She fell 7-5 to Washougal’s Haven Camden, missing out on a pin right as the second round ended.
With the match appearing headed for overtime, deadlocked at 5-all with 30 seconds to go in the third round, Camden scored the decisive two points.
“It was really close, Kaylee used a lot of new moves in that and almost got that pin,” Sequim girls wrestling coach Bill Schroepfer said.
Ditlefsen lost her final match 10-0 to Jennifer Mendoza of Warden.
“Kaylee never quit, never let up in that one, and overall I think she did a great job,” Schroepfer said.
