Whatcom County schools are sending 96 wrestlers to regional tournaments, not including alternates, following sub-regional events at various locations Feb. 2–3.
Of those qualifiers, 23 won sub-regional titles in their respective weight classes, led by Mount Baker’s county-high six first-place finishers — five on the boys side and one on the girls.
The Mountaineers qualified 17 total wrestlers to regionals, but Blaine led the county with 18 total wrestlers advancing past the postseason’s first stage.
Meridian advanced the third-most athletes with 16, including three first-place finishers, while Bellingham qualified 12 and had one first-place finisher.
Mount Baker boys finished second as a team in the Northwest 1A District 1 sub-regional tournament, held at Granite Falls High School. The Mountaineers got top finishes from Isaac DeKriek (106 pounds), Andrew Montieth (126), Gavin Compton (138), Daniel Washburn (157) and Wyatt Freeman (165).
Ana Camacho won Mount Baker’s lone girls title in the 105-pound weight class at the Girls 1B/2B/1A/2A North Sub-Regional at Squalicum High School, which included all of Whatcom County’s nine teams outside of Ferndale. Four other Mountaineers finished second, and Mount Baker also won the 23-team girls tournament.
Blaine’s boys team secured all four of the school’s sub-regional titles, with first-place finishes from Cole Voigt (113 pounds), Daniel Johner (132), Cal Fitzgerald (144) and Victor Gervol (285). Three Borderites girls wrestlers also finished second.
The Borderites boys team finished first out of eight teams at the Northwest 1A District 1 tournament.
Meridian qualified 11 boys and five girls, led by titles on the boys side from Joshtyn Elmer at 150 pounds and Rhett Dursch at 215 pounds. The Trojans’ Regan Swope picked up a first-place finish at the girls tournament, winning the 170-pound weight class.
Bellingham’s lone first-place finisher was Pavel Shintar, who captured the 150-pound title at the boys 2A District 1 Sub-Regional at Sedro-Woolley High School. The Bayhawks boys team had three others place top three in their weight classes, while Cheyenne Laub was the girls team’s only qualifier (third at 115 pounds).
Squalicum only qualified eight wrestlers — split evenly between boys and girls — but the Storm had four first-place finishers. Bella Phillips, who is 29-0 on the season, won the 190-pound girls title, and teammates Brooke Legoe (135 pounds) and Sadie Wilson (140) also earned top placements.
Lucas Hansen won the Storm’s lone boys title at 157 pounds, while two others finished third.
Ferndale is sending nine wrestlers to regionals, getting titles from Gabe Rios-Gordillo (106 pounds), Alex Depass (138) and Wyatt Straight (285).
The Golden Eagles girls team did not have any first-place finishes at the WIAA Girls 3A/4A 1.1 Sub-Regional, but they qualified three for regionals that all finished top three in their weight classes.
Lynden qualified six wrestlers while Nooksack Valley had five, and both had one sub-regional champion. Belen Lopez, who is 25-0 this season, won the 155-pound weight class for Lynden at the girls meet, and Wyatt Bacon finished first at 190 pounds for the NV boys team.
Gallery: Girls 1B/2B/1A/2A North Sub-Regional wrestling tournament
Despite not having any top finishers, Sehome is sending five boys wrestlers to regionals. Levi Reilly (144 pounds) and Caleb Davis (157) each finished second in their weight classes.
Local athletes will attend five different regional tournaments, all on Saturday, Feb. 10.
Mount Baker, Blaine, Meridian and Nooksack Valley’s boys teams will be at the WIAA 1A Region 1 tournament at Vashon Island High School. Squalicum, Sehome, Lynden and Bellingham’s boys teams will attend the WIAA 2A Region 1 tournament at Highline High School.
Ferndale, the county’s lone Class 3A school, will send its boys team to the WIAA 3A Region 1 tournament at Oak Harbor High School.
All the local girls teams, except for Ferndale, will attend the WIAA Girls 1B/2B/1A/2A Region 1 tournament at White River High School. Ferndale will be at the WIAA 3A/4A Region 1 tournament at Monroe High School.
A full list of qualifiers from sub-regional tournaments is below, listed by tournament and weight class.
Girls 1B/2B/1A/2A North Sub-Regional
100
2nd Place – Makenna Lausier, Blaine
105
1st Place – Ana Camacho, Mount Baker
115
2nd Place – Karalynn Cook, Mount Baker
3rd Place – Cheyenne Laub, Bellingham
4th Place – Sukhpreet Kaur, Meridian
120
2nd Place – Claire Hume, Blaine
4th Place – Sophia Moreno, Squalicum
125
2nd Place – Yaretzi Nava Gonzalez, Lynden
3rd Place – Sadie Schenck, Mount Baker
4th Place – Hailey Horsman, Meridian
130
4th Place – Lauren Valum, Mount Baker
135
1st Place – Brooke Legoe, Squalicum
2nd Place – Sophia Moa, Mount Baker
4th Place – Cheyenne Rose-Jimenez, Blaine
140
1st Place – Sadie Wilson, Squalicum
2nd Place – Tyla Olson, Mount Baker
3rd Place – Sarena Mander, Meridian
145
2nd Place – Lucyanna Dahl, Blaine
4th Place – Abigail A Marquez, Blaine
155
1st Place – Belen Lopez, Lynden
2nd Place – Stefany Camacho, Mount Baker
170
1st Place – Regan Swope, Meridian
4th Place – Kennedy Farrar, Meridian
190
1st Place – Isabella Phillips, Squalicum
3rd Place – Olivia Scott, Lynden
235
4th Place – Mina Azzam, Nooksack Valley
WIAA Girls 3A/4A 1.1 Sub-Regional
135
3rd Place – Cecilia Carlson, Ferndale
170
2nd Place – Eliana Guillory, Ferndale
190
3rd Place – Luz Alcala, Ferndale
Northwest 1A District 1
106
1st Place – Isaac DeKriek, Mount Baker
2nd Place – Christopher Zamudio, Blaine
3rd Place – Treyson Lewis-Kelley, Meridian
113
1st Place – Cole Voigt, Blaine
120
2nd Place – Aidyn Hancock, Blaine
3rd Place – Jaymasen Ladd Alexander, Meridian
4th Place – Denali Deming, Blaine
126
1st Place – Andrew Montieth, Mount Baker
2nd Place – Vinnie Saia, Blaine
4th Place – Marcus Montgomery, Meridian
5th Place – Wyatt Leuenberger, Meridian
132
1st Place – Daniel Johner, Blaine
3rd Place – Shaun Dugger, Mount Baker
4th Place – Jaiden Constance, Blaine
138
1st Place – Gavin Compton, Mount Baker
2nd Place – Carson Siadal, Meridian
4th Place – Liam Wolven, Meridian
5th Place – Abraham Hernandez, Nooksack Valley
144
1st Place – Cal Fitzgerald, Blaine
4th Place – Dane Beishline, Meridian
150
1st Place – Joshtyn Elmer, Meridian
3rd Place – Julio Nolasco Martin, Nooksack Valley
5th Place – Hugo Vekved, Blaine
157
1st Place – Daniel Washburn, Mount Baker
5th Place – Owyn Cunningham, Nooksack Valley
165
1st Place – Wyatt Freeman, Mount Baker
175
3rd Place – Vance Lawrence, Mount Baker
5th Place – Gunner McGrath, Mount Baker
4th Place – Max Wiederspohn, Blaine
190
1st Place – Wyatt Bacon, Nooksack Valley
2nd Place – Blake Goltz, Blaine
3rd Place – Dylan Moa, Mount Baker
4th Place – Landen Downey, Meridian
215
1st Place – Rhett Duersch, Meridian
2nd Place – Alder Giarde, Mount Baker
5th Place – Jaxon Hurlbut, Meridian
285
1st Place – Victor Gervol, Blaine
2nd Place – Otto Shelton, Blaine
2A District 1 Sub-Regional Tournament
106
2nd place – Dylan Roath, Bellingham
4th place – Jacob McCarty, Bellingham
113
5th place – Eliseo Ortiz Lopez, Lynden
126
2nd place – Christian Velasquez, Lynden
3rd place – Aidan Borchert, Bellingham
138
5th place – Conor Rodriguez-Stiff, Bellingham
144
2nd place – Levi Reilly, Sehome
3rd place – Griffin Smith, Squalicum
4th place – Nathan Laas, Bellingham
5th place – Colin Mcgiverin, Sehome
150
1st place – Pavel Shintar, Bellingham
3rd place – Grant Oliver, Sehome
5th place – Simeon Blas, Squalicum
157
1st place – Lucas Hansen, Squalicum
2nd place – Caleb Davis, Sehome
3rd place – Clarence Valladares, Lynden
4th place – Alexander Scott, Bellingham
165
3rd place – Aiden Holmes, Sehome
175
5th place – Kaarlo Laukkanen, Bellingham
215
2nd place – Sonny Powell, Bellingham
5th place – Julian Montoya, Bellingham
285
3rd place – Issac Lowry, Squalicum
5th place – Finnegan Jensen, Bellingham
WESCO North 3A Wrestling Tournament
106
1st Place – Gabe Rios-Gordillo, Ferndale
126
2nd Place – Mason Filippinni, Ferndale
138
1st Place – Alex Depass, Ferndale
157
4th Place – Jacob Gandy, Ferndale
175
5th Place – Kaden Eldridge, Ferndale
285 1st Place – Wyatt Strait, Ferndale
Connor J. Benintendi is a former CDN sports reporter, send tips and information to newstips@cascadiadaily.com.
