What threatened to be a disappointing day actually turned into an occasion worthy of celebration Saturday as, despite several no-shows by usual contenders, the scrappy Bainbridge Spartans fought their way through eight teams of opponents to emerge in fifth place overall at this year’s Island Invitational wrestling tournament.

The varsity wrestling team’s only home turf tournament of the year, a regular highlight of the season, the annual invitational typically draws about a dozen squads to the BHS gymnasium every January.

This year’s contest saw participants from Port Angeles, North Kitsap, North Mason, Interake, Mercer Island, Anacortes, Mountlake Terrace and Kingston make the trek.

The Kitsap News Group’s Nick Twietmeyer was also in attendance, camera in-hand to capture all the action. His favorite shots are collected here.