Vashon Wrestling had three successful outings this week. Last Wednesday, Vashon won two dual meets, beating Washington High School, 54-27, and Eatonville High School, 42-28. On Saturday, five Pirates placed at the Everett Classic Tournament and brought home a 10th-place team finish.

The Everett Classic Tournament featured 20 teams competing in a 16-man bracketed varsity-level tourney and a JV-level round-robin.

Assistant Coach Per-Lars Blomgren considered this to be a good competition for Vashon. “With so many teams, everyone had some great matches,” Blomgren said.

Third-place winner Shane Armstrong was the outstanding Pirate wrestler at the tournament, Blomgren said. Armstrong had pins against his Everett and Mount Vernon opponents (4:37 and 3:00) and a 16-8 decision against a Timberline grappler. His only loss came at the hands of the runner-up in the 171-pound weight class from Auburn Mountainview.

“Shane is an exciting wrestler to watch. He is tenacious with an unorthodox style that opponents find difficult to handle,” Blomgren said.

Second-place winner Dominik Stemer parlayed a bye, a 16-6 major decision and a 5:05 pin into a trip to the 140-pound finals where he lost 7-1 to a Squalicum grappler. Alex Sohl roared back with three solid wins after his initial 5-2 loss to a ranked Mount Vernon opponent, to claim third place at 160 pounds.

Also earning third place, Robert Easton had two decisions and a pin (1:02), but lost to a standout Emerald Ridge wrestler who was the eventual champion at 189 pounds.

Maximo Mandl, 152 pounds, had two pins (4:52, 3:41) on his way to fifth place.

The outstanding Pirate JV wrestler was Ryan O’Grady whose intensity and competitiveness proved tough for opponents to counter, said Blomgren.

Last Wednesday, Orting hosted double dual meets where Vashon won both of its meets against Eatonville and Washington. Vashon and Orting did not wrestle each other last week, but will later this month.

There were several noteworthy matches from the dual meets. Vince Jovanovich was leading 5-1 in the third period when his Washington opponent egg-rolled him onto his back. Jovanovich released his hold on his foe and gave up the 2-point reversal, but did not risk also giving up a possible 3-point near fall. Blomgren credited this savvy strategy for Jovanovich’s 5-3 win at 285 pounds.

Mandl’s match against his Eatonville adversary went into a sudden victory period, which Mandl won 8-6. Blomgren thought that Mandl’s superior conditioning was the key to defeating his 152-pound opponent.

Before the dual meet, the Eatonville and Washington coaches had bragged about the dominating upper-weight class wrestler that each team had on its roster. In a classic “actions speak louder than words” moment, the Vashon coaches summoned Easton, who beat both of them.

Other outstanding efforts included JV pins by Christian Seymour, O’Grady, Louie Jovanovich and Zach Stackhouse, and girls’ pins by Julie Wilson, Julia Zaglin and Madeleine Wolczko.

Today the Pirates will travel to Cascade Christian for a dual meet, and on Saturday the boys and girls will attend separate tournaments.

— Marian Easton is the mother of two Pirate wrestlers.

Wrestling Results

Vashon 54; Washington 27

103: Mayberry (W) by forfeit. 112: Foxx (W) by forfeit. 119: Nguyen (W) d. Wolczko, 6-1. 125: Mulholland (W) p. Figgins, 0:41. 130: Robbins (W) p. O’Grady, 1:41. 135: Williams (V) by forfeit. 140: Stemer (V) by forfeit. 145: Steneker (V) by forfeit. 152: Mandl (V) p. Bell 2:54. 160: Betz (V) p. Hines, 1:15. 171: Sohl (V) p. Layman, 3:40. 189: Easton (V) p. Davis, 2:33. 215: Armstrong (V) by forfeit. 285: Jovanovich (V) d. Ramirez, 5-3.

Vashon 42; Eatonville 28

103: double forfeit. 112: Boucale (E) p. Zaglin, 1:11. 119: Martin (E) md. Wolczko, 12-2. 125: Trinidad (E) p. Figgins, 0:34. 130: Saulsbury (E) p. O’Grady, 2:11. 135: Williams (V) by forfeit. 140: Stemer (V) p. Mann, 3:01. 145: Steneker (V) by forfeit. 152: Mandl (V) d. Lasnier, 8-6 SV1. 160: Schrader (E) p. Betz, 1:49. 171 Sohl (V) p. King, 0:23. 189: Armstrong (V) p. Ronish, 5:04. 215: Easton (V) d. Bauman, 5-2. 285: Jovanovich (V) by forfeit.