With more than a half-dozen athletes earning top-four placings, Sequim High wrestling leaders were happy with how things played out at the sub-regional tourney at Sequim’s Rick Kaps Gymnasium on Feb. 3.
“Overall, the coaches are really pleased, between where we started and where we are,” SHS head coach Steve Chinn said.
Seven Wolves (and an alternate) are headed is to the Region 2 tournament at White River High School in Buckley on Feb. 10, competing for a chance to move on to the MatClassic state championship in Tacoma the following weekend.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Johnny Vilona of Sequim takes control of the sub-regional 126-pound semifinal match against Bremerton’s Jonah Gregor. Vilona won the match, 4-2, and placed second overall.
Sequim finished fifth in the seven-team tourney, with North Kitsap taking top honors.
Senior Cayden Beauregard leads the contingent after racing his way through the 113-pound sub-regional bracket with a 3-0 mark and three pins.
Ranked No. 4 in the state 2A classification (washingtonwrestlingreport.com), Beauregard said he was happy with how things came together in his matches. He pinned Malachi Dill of Olympic (0:53), Sean Evans of North Mason (1:24) and, in the title match, Xion Horne of Olympic (3:13) for the top seed to regionals.
“It was good; I was in control the entire time,” Beauregard said.
“I’m looking forward to [regionals and state]; it’s my senior year. I can’t leave anything on the mat.”
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim’s Jayms Vilona, top, works for a technical victory over North Mason’s Michael Freemier in the 144-pound weight class quarterfinals of a sub-regional tournament in Sequim on Feb. 3. Vilona placed second in the tourney.
A quartet of Wolves picked up second-place finishes, including brothers Johnny (126 pounds) and Jayms Vilona (144). Johnny went 2-1 with a pin of Olympic’s Elijah Person and a 4-2 win over Bremerton’s Jonah Gregor, while Jayms was 2-1 with a technical fall over North Mason’s Michael Freemier and edging Bremerton’s Matthew Chichester, 7-4.
Ryan Spelker (1-1) took second after topping North Kitsap’s Micheal Desmond 11-8 to reach the 120-pound finals. It was his first time to qualify for a final match at a tourney, Sequim coaches noted.
Brandon Bair also placed fourth at 106 pounds.
Despite losses in the finals, Chinn said those four grapplers saw some excellent competition.
“They were tough, tough kids,” he said. “At this point, it’s state-level competitors.”
“This is going to be a good stepping stone,” Chinn said, particularly for wrestlers like Spelker. “That’s a real positive.”
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Ryan Spelker of Sequim, left, grapples with Anthony Murphy of Bremerton in the 120-pound weight class sub-regional title match in Sequim on Feb. 3. Spelker finished second and earned a spot at the Region 2 tourney this week.
James Mason is heading to regionals at 150 pounds after winning three of four matches. He upended Bremerton’s Jalin Littleraven-Oliver 15-3 in the quarterfinals. After losing in the semis, Mason rebounded to pin Cooper Stapleton of North Mason in 3:29 and won the rematch with Littleraven-Oliver, 12-4, in the third/fourth place match.
Also headed to regionals with a third place seed is Ari Skov, who posted a 3-1 mark at 175 pounds. He opened with a pin of Kingston’s Immanuel Moore in 68 seconds. After falling in the semifinals, Skov pinned Olympic’s Thomas Swain in 1:32 and earned a forfeit win over Port Angeles’ A.J. Martinez Jr.
James Smith is headed to regionals as an alternate after winning two of four matches. He picked up pins of North Kitsap’s Christopher Eberlein and Olympic’s Wesley Tebo.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Ari Skov of Sequim, left, wrestles Olympic’s Thomas Swain in the consolation semifinals at a sub-district tournament in Sequim on Feb. 3. Skov won the match by pin and placed third overall.
“He 180’d his season and finishes strong,” assistant coach Kelly Reichner said of Smith.
Riley Downs (132 pounds) went 3-3 with two pins and placed sixth, missing a regional alternate berth by one placing.
Dylan Bowen also just missed a state berth in a tough 190-pound weight class, finishing sixth.
Hunter Halverson also picked up a win in three matches at 138 pounds.
Ranked No. 8 in the 2A classification, north Kitsap’s Vikings racked up 327 team points to edge Olympic (323) for the sub-regional title.
Just 13 points separated the next four teams, with North Mason third (178), followed by Bremerton (176), Sequim (171.5) and Port Angeles(165). Kingston was seventh (23).
The top four placers at regional tournaments qualify for MatClassic, scheduled for Feb. 16-17 at the Tacoma Dome.
Sequim Gazette photos by Michael Dashiell Cayden Beauregard of Sequim (top) wrestles Xion Horne of Olympic in the 113-pound weight class time match at a sub-regional tournament in Sequim on Feb. 3. Beauregard won by pin in 3:13.
