By NATHAN WHALEN
Special for the News-Times
After two days of competition, Oak Harbor’s girls wrestling team were victorious in the subregional championship that took place Friday and Saturday at Oak Harbor High School.
“We saw some really good wrestling,” Oak Harbor girls wrestling coach Mike Crebbin said.
The Wildcats scored 221 points to earn the title. Lake Stevens placed second at 209 points and Glacier Peak was third at 176.5 points. The tournament comprised teams from Wesco 3A/4A, Kingco 3A/4A and Northwest Conference 3A.
Crebbin said Oak Harbor was in second place after the first day and the team was neck-and-neck with Lake Stevens until the very end.
Two Oak Harbor wrestlers won their respective weight classes.
Julia Gonzales took first place at 100 pounds. “That was a really hard-fought match,” Crebbin said. Gonzales had lost to her finals opponent earlier in the season. “She wrestled lights out. You could see her confidence build.”
Olivia Hudson was the champion at 235 pounds, while her teammate, Lotoaigaola Tupu, placed second at 235 pounds. “They’ve been great partners for each other,” Crebbin said.
Also placing second was Genesis Egli at 125 pounds, Annabelle Suto at 135 pounds, and Zoe Beeman at 145 pounds.
Khryza Castillo placed fourth at 115 pounds, KaDee Snyder placed fifth at 120 pounds, and Brianna Richard placed fifth at 130 pounds.
Amber Shaffer (100 pounds), Cayla Turner (125 pounds), Sophie Erikson (145 pounds) and Madison Yudon (155 pounds) placed sixth in their weight classes.
The top six wrestlers from each weight class will go on to the regional tournament that takes place Saturday at Monroe. Kayla Bodenhafer, who placed eighth at 120 pounds, will be an alternate at the regional tournament.
“They’re going to get better because their opponents are going to be better,” Crebbin said.
He also thanked the volunteers and parents who helped at the subregional tournament.
“We went from having zero girls wrestling tournaments to hosting two,” Crebbin said. Oak Harbor hosted the Rock Island Rumble in January.
Oak Harbor’s boys wrestling team also had a strong showing at the Wesco North 3A tournament that took place last weekend at Marysville Pilchuck High School.
The Wildcats placed fourth as a team with 255 points, one point behind third place finisher Mount Vernon. Arlington won the tournament while Marysville Pilchuck placed second.
“I had a lot of guys show up and wrestle hard,” boys wrestling coach Aaron McBride said. “We’re trending in the right direction.”
Two wrestlers, Percie Hatfield at 157 pounds and Josiah Christopherson at 175 pounds, placed first in their weight classes.
Joel Christopherson at 144 pounds, Anthony Amezquita at 190 pounds and Kenneth Anguiano at 215 pounds each placed third in their weight classes.
Kaiden Collins placed fourth at 120 pounds, Carter Parker placed fourth at 126 pounds and Ethan Bazar placed fourth at 175 pounds.
The top five wrestlers of each weight class move on to the regional tournament, that takes place Saturday at Oak Harbor High School. That tournament will include schools from the South Sound Conference.
