South Whidbey had three wrestlers reach the semifinal round in their weights at a tournament in Darrington this past weekend.

Falcon head coach Jim Thompson said each of his wrestlers won at least one match and had a minimum of three bouts. At this point in the season with the 1A District tournament around the corner Feb. 6, mat time is more important than accumulating wins, he said.

South Whidbey sophomore Hunter Newman was the team’s top finisher, winning third place in the 132-pound division after losing in the semifinal round. Newman now has 19 wins and only four losses on the season.

“For a sophomore, he’s got a good future,” Thompson said. “He’s probably the best sophomore wrestler I’ve ever had.”

Josh McElhinny, a Falcon senior, placed fifth in the 138.

Logan Madsen, a sophomore, had his best finish of the season in the 182 at fifth place.

“It was good for him,” Thompson said.

“He wrestled well, even in the matches he lost,” he added.

This weekend will be the first Saturday without a competition for the Falcons since the season began in earnest in December. The only other weekend break South Whidbey took was after Christmas, but were back in action following the New Year’s Day holiday.

South Whidbey, which will not have a single home meet this season after forgoing its Cascade Conference dual meets because of having only eight grapplers – well short of a full roster – returns to action Jan. 31 in Tacoma.

Preparing for the district tournament, in which all of South Whidbey’s wrestlers will compete, is the focus going forward, Thompson said. In the coming days of practice, footwork and “basics” will be emphasized.

“We gave up too many takedowns and didn’t finish our takedowns,” Thompson said.