A dozen schools sent grapplers to compete on the four mats in Paski Gymnasium Saturday, Jan. 12 for the annual Island Invitational.
The yearly Bainbridge High-based wrestling tournament, a highlight event of the Spartan season, saw teams from Sequim, Interlake, Kingston, Kennedy Catholic, North Mason, Mercer Island, Port Angeles, Olympic, Ingraham, North Kitsap and Edmonds-Woodway attend.
Bainbridge finished in eighth place overall (103 points) and boasted eight top 10 finishers — including one champ: senior team captain Oleg Maguire (138 pounds).
The island squad’s star showings were primarily in the lighter weight classes and, despite having a record number of female team members this season, all by boys.
The girls, all new to the sport, did get some mat time, wrestling exhibition matches against JV boys later in the day. It was, BHS Head Coach Dan Pippinger said, a tactical decision.
In the 106-pound bracket, Garrett Swanson finished second and Harrison Cate, eighth.
In the 113-pound bracket, Hiram Topham took fourth place. Among the 120-pounders, Levi Field-Bennett finished seventh. Indigo Weappa (126 pounds) finished seventh.
Bainbridge bruiser Doug Takada finished second in the 145-pound bracket. Clayton Marsh (152 pounds) finished seventh.
Overall, Edmonds-Woodway stole the show, finishing first with 187 points.
North Kitsap took second (168.5), Ingraham third (162.5), Olympic fourth (141), Port Angeles fifth (130), Mercer Island sixth (121), North Mason seventh (104.5) Kennedy Catholic ninth (81), Kingston 10th (69), Interlake 11th (34.5) and Sequim 12th (23).
The turnout was robust, the BHS coach said, and the tournament, a centerpiece of the season, a success.
“It went great,” Pippinger said. “We had full brackets and full teams there. It was really great.”
Team veteran Maguire sat through a bye in the first round before hitting the mat. He pinned Interlake’s Miguel Ortiz in 2:57 to advance, then took down North Mason’s Juan Pedro-Alonzo in just 34 seconds. Finally, to take the top spot, he battled to an 11-0 decision against Mercer Island’s Andrew Motz.
It was, Pippinger said, actually not an especially challenging day for Maguire, a seasoned performer on the mat.
“Oleg, actually he wasn’t really challenged on Saturday,” Pippinger said.
“He really kind of just did what he would expect of himself and really kind of took it to the competition that was there … I would say he could have used a little bit more work, but he didn’t actually get that much time on the mat because he was so effective.”
The next best finisher, Takada, also enjoyed a first-round bye. He then scored a 12-1 win against North Mason’s Gregorio Pedro-Alonzo and subsequently pinned North Kitsap’s Tanner Zinker in 5:16.
Finally, he was himself beaten in an 8-6 decision by Edmonds-Woodway George Quintans.
“He’s very strong,” Pippinger said of the 145-pounder. “He’s really very consistent through the off-season and being in the weight room. He does all the workouts with me.
“He’s grown a lot,” the coach added. “It’s really paying off for him.”
Swanson, the team’s other second-place finisher, received an initial bye as well. He bested Interlake’s Carson Fricke in an 11-3 decision, then pinned North Kitsap’s Colin Pate in 5:50.
Finally, Swanson was beaten, in overtime, in a 4-2 decision match by North Mason’s Cole Tate.
“He had a good day,” Pippinger said. “He’s dealing a little bit with a nagging knee right now, but he wrestled tough and didn’t let that get in the way of competing.”
The Spartan squad has just one more home match on the regular season schedule: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22 against Central Kitsap.
The Metro Championships will take place at Cleveland High on Friday, Feb. 1 and Saturday, Feb. 2; the Regional Championship at Nathan Hale on Saturday, Feb. 9; and the state championships return to the Tacoma Dome on Friday, Feb. 15 and Saturday, Feb. 16.
