VHS wrestlers opened their season last week with a win over Lake Stevens JV on Friday and a solid fifth place at the Auburn Invitational tournament on Saturday.

Coach Anders Blomgren described the Friday meet as having “tons of great action,” citing a 44-30 final score and wins by Lewis Kanagy, Payton Bonaventura, Moses Kilpatrick, Nico Nuxoll, Ryan Nelson, Jordon Rutschow, Finn McClure and James Ryland in the matchup with Lake Stevens.

Saturday saw a trip to Auburn for a varsity and junior varsity tournament with eight other teams, including last year’s State champs from South Kitsap High School. At the varsity level, Kanagy managed Vashon’s best placing of the day at second, Ethan McIntyre took third and Bonaventura, Kilpatrick and Rutschow grappled their way to fourth place finishes.

The junior varsity side came home with second place standings from Jake Bowden and George Murphy, and thirds from James Ryland and Nikhila Berntson.

Overall for the tournament, Vashon placed fifth out of nine.

The next meet will be Double Dual at home with Bellevue Christian and Cascade Christian at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12. The team will leave the following morning for a TriState tournament in Idaho.