Nineteen Whatcom County wrestlers have a shot at third place in state or better after the opening day of Mat Classic XXXIV at the Tacoma Dome on Friday.
Mount Baker leads the county with seven wrestlers remaining. On the boy’s side, Jorey Johnson (113 pounds), Daniel Washburn (145 pounds) and Elijah Washburn (170 pounds) all advanced to the semifinals. The boys currently sit tied for third at 43 points with Deer Park.
Ella Moa (100 pounds) made it to the semifinals on the girls side. K.J. Chapman (boys 132 pounds), Tempest Heiner (girls 105 pounds) and Sydney VanBrocklin (girls 155 pounds) remain in the consolation bracket.
Blaine has six wrestlers still in it. Cael Button (boys 126 pounds) and Genesis Vazquez (105 pounds) advanced to their respective semifinals. Cal Fitzgerald (138 pounds), Rahul Chandran (220 pounds) and Victor Gervol (285 pounds) are all in the boys consolation bracket. Lucyanna Dahl (145 pounds) is in the girls consolation bracket.
Both of Nooksack Valley’s wrestlers in the tournament made it to the semifinals, with Ameriah Harlan in the girls 145-pound weight class and Shon Visser in the boys 182-pound division.
Bellingham United’s Frances Porteous (155 pounds) and Isabella Phillips (190 pounds) both made it to the girls semifinals.
Lynden’s lone qualifier, Belen Lopez, is set up in the girls 155-pound semifinal. Ferndale’s Jacob Gandy will wrestle in the boys 145-pound semifinals Saturday.
Day two begins at 10 a.m. on Feb. 18 and wraps up with the championship matches at 3:30 p.m. later that day. The top-eight finishers in each bracket place; the top-three wrestlers earn podium finishes.
Here is the full list of Whatcom County wrestlers still in contention after Day 1:
Boys Class 3A
145
- Jacob Gandy, Ferndale, semifinals
220
- Sam Brulotte, Ferndale, consolation bracket
Boys Class 1A
113
- Jorey Johnson, Mount Baker, semifinals
126
- Cael Button, Blaine, semifinals
132
- K.J. Chapman, Mount Baker, consolation bracket
138
- Cal Fitzgerald, Blaine, consolation bracket
145
- Daniel Washburn, Mount Baker, semifinals
170
- Elijah Washburn, Mount Baker, semifinals
182
- Shon Visser, Nooksack Valley, semifinals
220
- Rahul Chandran, Blaine, consolation bracket
285
- Victor Gervol, Blaine, semifinals
Girls Class 3A
155
- Frances Porteous, Bellingham United, semifinals
190
- Isabella Phillips, Bellingham United, semifinals
Girls 1B/2B/1A/2A
100
- Ella Moa, Mount Baker, semifinals
105
- Genesis Vazquez, Blaine, semifinals
- Tempest Heiner, Mount Baker, consolation bracket
145
- Ameriah Harlan, Nooksack Valley, semifinals
145
- Lucyanna Dahl, Blaine, consolation bracket
155
- Belen Lopez, Lynden, in semifinals
- Sydney VanBrocklin, Mount Baker, consolation bracket
A previous version of the story left out Ferndale’s Sam Brulotte. A previous version also misspelled Jorey Johnson’s name. The caption was updated at 9:20 a.m. on Feb. 18 to reflect this change. The Cascadia Daily News regrets this error.
