At last Saturday’s sub-regional competition, the Pirate grapplers served notice they are healthy and ready to roll through the post season. They ended the day as sub-regional champions, beating rival Klahowya by 20 points. Also participating were teams from Bellevue Christian, Cascade Christian and Port Townsend.
The unorthodox crew has declared “Straight Outta Vashon” as its motto and has adopted the persona of teenage mutant ninja wrestlers. Across the board, the team was tough, resilient and inspirational. Seventeen began the tournament, where each bracket saw the top four move on to the regional competition set for this Saturday.
After a season marked by attrition, injuries and unexpected surprises, the team rebounded and will be sending 15 wrestlers on to regionals. In keeping with the season, the team lost two members (Nicholas Nuxoll and Adon Ellis) to injury at the tournament with a broken leg and a concussion as the only black marks on the day.
With Vashon’s stellar wrestling at the Nisqually League level, the team was the beneficiary of numerous first round byes, giving the home grapplers a leg up. By day’s end, there were 12 in the finals with Vashon getting an even split — six champions and six runners-up. Three sets of finalists featured Vashon vs. Vashon wrestlers. To protect against possible injury, none of those matches were wrestled, with the coaches making the strategic call on who would finish first and second. Three third-place Pirate finishes rounded out the day.
The toughest bracket in the tournament was 152 pounds, the only one with a full eight-man complement. Both Hoisington brothers, Bryce and Connor, were in this group, and each match was a brawl. The finals pitted Klahowya’s top wrestler, Gabe Wallis, against Bryce, who was back on the mat for the first time in several weeks. It was close throughout, with Hoisington pulling out the victory late in the third round. Connor had lost earlier in the day to Wallis, sending him to the match for third, which he handily took from Port Townsend with a pin in round one.
The all-Vashon final matches saw Luke Larson and Preston Petersen at 113 pounds, Chase Wickman and Shane Williams at 126 pounds and Logan Nelson and Chester Pruett at 170 pounds. It was Wickman’s first match back since the Tri-State tournament in Idaho in mid-December. He was impressive in his semi-final match, and it was a boost for the team to have him competing again.
Freshman Adrian St. Germain, who has been sidelined most of the season with injuries, ran roughshod over his opponents en route to a championship at 145 lbs. Clyde Pruett, at 160, took the win by technical fall over his Klahowya counterpart.
Making it to the finals and coming out with a second-place finish were freshman Payton Bonaventura and seniors Rodolfo Flores and Franklin Easton. Senior and first time wrestler Jackson Bard, along with teammate freshman Evan Stanford, took third.
Matches of the day go to Bryce Hoisington for his finals performance against Wallis and Franklin Easton for his semi-final performance. Easton is freshly back from an injury suffered on Dec. 10, and it was a real test of mind vs. flesh and bone. Late in the match the score was knotted at four when he pulled ahead to take the late 6-4 win.
Coach Anders Blomgren was happy with the team’s performance and noted, “It was great to have everyone back — a new energy.”
The Pirates travel to the regional competition at Klahowya Secondary School in Silverdale on Saturday. The top four wrestlers in each weight class will move on to the state competition in the Tacoma Dome on Feb. 19.
— Cheryl Pruett is the mother of two Pirate wrestlers.
