It was stinky, it was sweaty, it was long, and by grappler standards it was glorious. By the end of the Rock Tournament last Wednesday, condensation was running down the gym walls at Vashon High School.

Fourteen teams and 167 wrestlers from across the state came to Vashon to compete in the fifth-annual Rock Tournament. Vashon’s team of 20 came in sixth overall in team points, took five medals and had one champion for the day.

Nine Vashon wrestlers got off to a great start on Wednesday, winning their first matches of the tournament.

With stiff competition in every weight class, the Vashon grapplers had their hands full. Each member contributed vital team points that led the Pirates to a significant sixth-place finish, with 12 wrestlers winning at least one match.

Joe Collier took home a sixth-place medal, Eliott Ellingsen a fifth-place medal, Kevin Thomas a fourth and Preston Morris a third.

A huge boon for the team came in the form of Robert “Beaston” Easton. Sidelined the first part of the season due to injury, the tournament was Easton’s first live action of the year. He emerged victorious, crowned the champion of the 220-pound weight class.

Ellingsen’s match for fifth and sixth against a Jackrabbit from Quincy was another notable contest that had the crowd roaring as he won.

And though he lost, Joey DeFabio’s match in the 285-pound weight class against a young man monster from Kelso was noteworthy in that nobody else wanted to get in the circle with him.

The Pirates’ next wrestling action is 7 p.m. tomorrow against a tough Orting team at home. The team will travel on Saturday to Chehalis for another all-day tournament.

— Cheryl Pruett is the mother of a middle school wrestler.