TACOMA — A historically deep Forks team has the best shot to take home state championship hardware as Mat Classic XXXIV, the state wrestling tournament, opens this morning and continues through Saturday evening at the Tacoma Dome.
Boys and girls wrestlers from Forks, East Jefferson, Port Angeles and Sequim all will compete for a top spot on the podium in their respective weight classes as the dome drama heats up in front of packed, roaring crowds.
There’s so much emotion at play on the mats — jubilation and unbridled excitement for the winners. The self-satisfaction that goes along with achieving the ultimate payoff after seasons of grueling training.
But for every one of those wrestlers who experience the ultimate joy and satisfaction, there are two, three, four, even 10 times more wrestlers who leave the dome disappointed.
For every one of those wrestlers, there’s also been years of hard work.
Forks boasts 16 wrestlers ready to compete at Mat Classic, including five regional champs and four second-place finishers.
Every weight class is represented by Forks, minus the lightweight (106 pounds) and heavyweight (285) classes.
The Spartans’ total is second only to Class 2A Orting’s haul of 20 wrestlers across all classifications.
Forks racked up five regional champions last weekend in dominating the Region 1 competition and earning a regional championship. Jesus Garcia-Dominguez took first at 113 pounds, Kevin Camacho-Roldan at 132, Kaleb Blanton at 152, Nate Dahlgren at 182 and Sloan Tumaua at 220.
Four other Spartans made it to the regional championship match in their weight classes, finishing second. They were Conner Demorest at 126 pounds, Walker Rondeau at 132 (he was beaten in the championship by Camacho-Roldan in a 7-4 decision), Colton Hunt at 138 and Walker Wheeler at 145.
Demorest and Wheeler earned third-place finishes at state last year, so they are capable of deep runs as well.
Three Port Angeles grapplers will compete: freshman Alex Burrow at 113, senior Raymond Rodriguez at 120 and Ethan Abrams at 145. Thomas Arand is an alternate at 182.
Sequim’s best bet at a state place is Sequim junior Cayden Beauregard at 106 pounds. Beauregard is ranked sixth by Washington Wrestling Report in a weight class that only returns one state placer from 2022 — Aberdeen’s Talatheon Warness.
Freshman Ryan Spelker (113) and Ari Skov (170) also will wrestler for the Wolves.
James Henery (152) and Devon Bennett-Anderson (220) qualified for the East Jefferson boys, along with alternates Isaiah Johnson, Grady White and Manaseh Lanphear-Ramirez.
East Jefferson’s Mi Amada Lanphear-Ramirez is the most likely medal candidate among North Olympic Peninsula girls wrestlers. Lanphear-Ramirez is 31-5 on the season and is coming off a runner-up finish at last weekend’s regional.
Lanphear-Ramirez is ranked No. 4 at 115 pounds by Washington Wrestling Report. Her top competition looks to be Orting’s Brooklyn Jones, who placed third at 115 last season, and Jada Hernandez of Warden, sixth at 115 in 2022.
Forks’ Lillianna Galeana (105), Peyton Johnson (115) and Miley Blanton (120) will compete, while Port Angeles’ Faye Dachs (110) and Julia Baeder (130) will represent the Roughriders.
Tickets are available at https://www.wiaa.com/subcontent.aspx?SecID=332.
