It was a red-letter day for Vashon wrestling. Even within the storied history of the team, none can remember one quite like this.

Fourteen Pirate grapplers traveled to the WIAA Region I wrestling championships, with an amazing 11 making it through to the state tournament this week at the Tacoma Dome.

The team traveled north to Meridian High School in Bellingham on Feb. 14 and competed against wrestlers from nine other 1A schools, finishing second in team points.

The team’s motto all season has been one of survival — to outwit, outlast and out-wrestle all opponents. After being dismissed from the top 13 in team rankings in state after the district tournament, the Pirates went in as underdogs and quickly served notice that they were not to be taken lightly.

By day’s end, Vashon had seven in the finals and crowned four regional champions. Three Pirates took second, three in third and one taking the last spot to state in fourth.

Icing on the cake for the day was the naming of coaching brothers Per Lars and Anders Blomgren as assistant coach and head coach of the year respectively. Once again proving that nice guys can finish first, and that hard work and conditioning will pay off in the end.

Champions for Vashon were Chase Wickman, Shane Williams, Bryce Hoisington and Logan Nelson. Making it to the finals and taking second were Luke Larson, Hunter Burger and Joe Coller. Third-place finishes went to Preston Petersen, Chester Pruett and Franklin Easton. Rodolfo Flores finished fourth. Taking sixth were Eli Hudson and Elllis Petersen. Alyx Arteaga made it into the tournament as an alternate and gained valuable experience.

The large Vashon wrestling roadie crowd had a lot to cheer about from the first match of the day. At 106 pounds, freshman Luke Larson won his first two matches by first round pin, was down in his final match 0-7, came back to tie it, force overtime and came up just short 6-8. Junior Preston Petersen, 113 pounds, lost only one match on the day, to teammate Wickman, and moves on to his first trip to state. Wickman, the beneficiary of a first round bye, posted an excellent final round, pinning his opponent in the second round of their match.

At 120 pounds, Williams also had a first round bye, then took care of opponents from Mt. Baker and Pt. Townsend to take the championship. Flores, also at 120, had an amazing day winnig two and dropping 2 to take fourth. Freshman Hunter Burger got revenge on his nemesis from Klahowya. After losing to him in double overtime the previous Saturday, Burger pinned him in the first round and moved on to the finals. Hoisington, 138 pounds, continued his winning ways, muscling his way through to a championship. Pruett, 152 pounds, brawled his way through the bracket, dropping a tight one to a highly ranked wrestler from Sultan, bouncing back, and definitively grabbing third place. Nelson, 160 pounds rolled through his bracket with ease and looks be tough to beat next week. Easton, at 182, took care of business, his one loss an overtime thriller against his Sultan counterpart. Rounding out the group was Coller who beat opponents from Sultan and Nooksack Valley before his lone loss in the finals.

One match of note goes to first-year wrestler and senior Eli Hudson, 220 pounds. His first match against Mt. Baker had his teammates and the Vashon crowd on their feet. After a difficult season, in a difficult sport for a rookie, he got his first pin of the season. Junior Rodolfo Flores’ first match of the day against Nooksack Valley was a 14-0 affair that resembled two fresh-from-the-dirt worms, making it the other match of note.

Coach Blomgren said he was exceptionally proud of the effort of the team.

“Our conditioning and grit clearly paid off,” he said. “We had a great intense week of practice and we will pick up the focus, diligence and intensity even more next week.”

The state competition, the Mat Classic XXVII, takes place this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20 and 21, at the Tacoma Dome.

— Cheryl Pruett is the mother of two Pirate wrestlers.