Sequim’s Lady Wolves came out in full force for the Hammerhead Invite in Bremerton on Dec. 19-20 to earn a ninth place finish (89 points) with four girls medaling in their weight classes.
“For as many girls we had, we did pretty well,” head coach Charles Drabek said.
Senior Kaylee Ditlefsen took top billing for Sequim with a second- place finish at 140 pounds. She pinned Rachelle Torres-Valencia of Grandview in 41 seconds for her first match and Chloe Ammons of Sedro-Woolley in 59 seconds before losing to 2013 state-runner-up Mariah Morton (130 pounds) of Kelso in a 10-0 major decision for first place. Ditlefsen also won the sportsmanship award for all the girls.
Fellow senior Sophia Cornell took co-third place at 110 pounds after going 2-1 with a pin over Sam Weeks of Mount Tahoma in 5:46 and Malia Adams of Franklin Pierce in 3:48 in the consolation bracket. Due to match limitations, she and many other wrestlers finished the tournament tied with opponents. Cornell shared third place with Ana Sanchez of Federal Way.
Alma Mendoza (125) also took co-third place by pinning Jenny Chen of Mercer Island in 4:55, Kylie Moore of Kelso in 1 minute, Terra Strecker of Inglemoor in 1:46 and defeating Brianna Galvan of Steilacoom in an 8-6 decision. She lost her second match in an 8-2 decision to Anesia Ramirez of Lakes, with whom she later shared third place.
Kiara Pierson (115) was Sequim’s other medal winner with a co-fifth place finish with pins over Averie Freund of Kelso in 4:34 and 10-7 win over Nia Lawes of Bonney Lake setting up the co-finish with Chelsey Rochester of Yelm.
For the Wolves, Aylee Bennett (130) and Jillian Hutchinson-Blouin (120) finished 2-2 while Andrea Kienholtz (155) went 1-2.
They traveled to Forks on Dec. 27.
Boys seek medal
Sequim’s boys took 30th (70.5 points) with a few wrestlers coming close to medals in heats of tough competition.
Jamie Schroepfer (106), Kevyn Ward (152) and Michael Latimer (220) made it to the second day of wrestling with Schroepfer opening his tournament with a pin over Cody Brown of White River in 1:51. He lost by pinfall in 3:51 to Kameron Merrick of Prosser next but in the consolation he pinned Fernando Cambray of Decatur in 2:58 before being pinned in 3:51 by Leroy Portillo of South Kitsap.
“Jamie did really well,” Drabek said. “He was back and forth with his (last) opponent and we felt he was just as good as that kid.”
Ward went 3-2 opening with a 13-5 major decision over Jackson Odette of North Mason. He was later pinned by Christian Villani of Bellevue before pinning Hunter Ford of White River in 1:37 and winning 15-3 against Tanner Olson of Olympic. Ward was pinned in 2:45 by Adam Appleton of Central Kitsap who went on to sixth place.
Latimer went 4-2 in a large bracket with his first match pinning Malcom Johnson of Mountlake Terrace in 1:46 before losing 13-3 in a major decision to Andrzej Hughes-Murray of Federal Way.
Latimer rebounded to pin Timo Harter of Rogers in 1:30, Connor Lungberg of North Mason in 4:25 and defeat Mike Milcarek of Inglemoor 5-1. Ultimately, he was pinned by Kenneth Turner of Thomas Jefferson in 3:14, who took third in the meet.
Nathan Allison at 285 pounds went 3-2 with two pins before defaulting due to injury in his last match, and Grant Pierson (138) went 2-2.
Last weekend, the boys teams traveled to North Mason for a varsity and junior varsity tournament. This week they’ll travel to the Battle for the Axe in Port Angeles on Jan. 3.
