North Olympic Peninsula prep grapplers begin the postseason path to the state wrestling tournament on Saturday with the ultimate destination, Mat Classic XXXIV, scheduled for Feb. 17-18 at the Tacoma Dome.
Wrestlers with Tacoma Dome dreams must first advance past league or sub-regional tournaments this weekend.
Wrestlers who finish high enough in their respective weight classes — typically in the top four, but that number can fluctuate depending on league/subregional size — advance to regional competitions, which are held the weekend before Mat Classic. Regionals is the same format as sub-regionals: finish high enough to advance to state, or the season’s over.
Olympic League
Port Angeles and Sequim wrestlers will compete at Saturday’s Olympic League 2A sub-regional boys tournament at Bremerton High School. Matches begin at 10 a.m.
White River High School is hosting a girls sub-regional tournament Saturday that will include Olympic League 2A teams Sequim and Port Angeles as well as 1A East Jefferson.
The East Jefferson boys will compete in the Nisqually League 1A tournament at Life Christian Academy on Saturday.
Forks will compete at the 1B/2B District 4 Subregional at Raymond High School on Saturday.
Washington Wrestling Report is the one-stop source for all prep wrestling chatter and rankings for teams and individual wrestlers. The rankings provide more insight once the postseason begins because wrestlers are locked into their weight classes and aren’t able to drop down or wrestle up a weight class.
Two state classes
The girls portion of the Mat Classic tournament, formally all classification, has been split into a 3A/4A class and a B/1A/2A class this season, which could open the door for some higher finishes for area wrestlers.
Ranked girls include: East Jefferson’s Mi Amada Lanphear-Ramirez (second, 110 pounds) and Melody Douglas (fifth, 155); Forks’ LaRayne Blair (10th, 100) and Miley Blanton (ninth, 120); Sequim senior Isabella Diaz (ninth, 120); and Port Angeles’ Willow Harvey (ninth, 125).
In boys action, Forks is ranked No. 3 as a team in the 1B/2B boys rankings.
Ranked Spartans can be found at every weight class except heavyweight. They are: Matthew Montes (third, 106); Jesus Garcia Dominguez (fifth, 113); Bryan Lucas (eighth, 120); Conner Demorest (first, 126); Walker Rondeau (third, 132); Kevin Camacho-Roldan (seventh, 138); Walker Wheeler (third, 145); Kaleb Blanton (fifth, 152); Aiden Ivey (sixth, 160); Jon Parker Jr. (eighth, 170); Nate Dahlgren (fourth, 182); Sebastian Quenneke (fifth, 195); Sloan Tumaua (second, 220).
Sequim has a pair of ranked lightweights in Aiden Galvin (eighth, 106) and Cayden Beauregard (eighth, 113).
Port Angeles’s Thomas Arand is listed 11th in the 170-pound weight class rankings.
East Jefferson’s 145-pounder Manaseh Lanphear-Ramirez should turn some heads and heavyweight Lars Wakefield held an eighth-place ranking for a portion of the season.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at mcarman@ peninsuladailynews.com.
