It was an interesting week that had an odd feeling to it for the Pirate wrestling squad.

On Thursday, Dec. 10, the team had a highly anticipated matchup with Montesano in the home gym. It was a decisive 66-6 win for the Pirates, but it was a hollow victory that came with an asterisk. The Bulldogs showed up with only nine wrestlers, all but three of them their junior varsity, leaving many of their top ranked wrestlers at home.

The Pirates ran the table, winning every varsity match with the exception of one loss in the 160 pound weight class for Clyde Pruett. There were two double forfeits in the 182 and 285 weight classes. Montesano then went on to forfeit to Vashon in the 113, 120 and 126 pound classes. Of the nine varsity matches, eight were won by the Pirates by fall. Matches of note were Shane Williams and Chase Wickman. Wickman was down early in round one, and fought all the way back and was down 8-10 in mid-third round. He turned the tables and recorded the win with a pin with 19 seconds to go. In junior varsity action, Payton Bonaventura and Alyx Arteaga both won.

Friday, Dec. 11 found the team at Decatur High School in Federal Way facing off in double-dual action against the 4A Bethel Braves and the 3A powerhouse Decatur Gators. Again, there was excellent, good, bad and ugly. The Pirates left the gym with two sets of loose teeth, a re-injured ankle, a dislocated elbow and a ride in an aid car.

In the excellent category, Luke Larson, Bryce Hoisington and Logan Nelson all turned in two stellar matches against very tough competition. Excellent, before turning to ugly, were brilliant first matches for Adrian St. Germain and Chase Wickman before injuries sidelined both of them for the second round.

Posting varsity wins for the Pirates against Bethel were Bonaventura, Luke Larson, Wickman, Williams, St. Germain, Hoisington and Nelson. On the JV side, the lone winners were Ben Angelacos and Cori Williams. The somewhat diminished squad took on Decatur, and emerging victorious were Larson, Shane Williams, Hoisington and Nelson. On the JV side Arthur Moore was the lone winner.

Match of the night goes to Shane Williams, who took his Decatur opponent the full six minutes and came away with an impressive 9-7 win.

With their schedule not getting any easier, the Pirates head to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho on Thursday for the annual Tri-State competition. The two-day tournament features the best high school wrestlers from the Pacific Northwest.

— Cheryl Pruett is the mother of two Pirate wrestlers.