TACOMA — Whatcom County sent 56 wrestlers to the state tournament and after day one, nine are still in the winner’s bracket and onto the semifinal round Saturday.
In the 1A classification, Mount Baker had five boys make it to the semifinal round while Blaine had one.
Squalicum senior Bryson Lamb was the only local to advance to the semifinals in the 2A classification as was Ferndale’s Sam Brulotte in 3A.
Lamb said having the experience of the state tournament again is great, but he’s mostly happy to share it with his teammates.
“We bring a lot of kids who can’t wrestle to come and experience the environment,” he said. “I’m just glad I can put on a show for them and that’ll hopefully encourage them in later years to wrestle. It’s a great thing to do.”
The biggest surprise of the day might have been Ferndale’s Malia Welch. She came into the tournament with an undefeated record, but was pinned in her first match of the day against Kendra Perez, of Toppenish.
Welch had to ask herself how bad she wanted to be on the podium Saturday after falling out of title contention.
“I had to let go of that match,” Welch said about her next challenges in the tournament. “I just had to shake it off because not every match goes your way.”
Results from matches of wrestlers in the semifinals below are up to date as of Saturday morning.
Championship rounds
Blaine – Boys
1A 126: Cael Button beat Toppenish’s Isai Acevedo by a 12-1 major decision in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals.
1A 192: Nicolaas Chandran pinned Colville’s Tanner Goff in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals.
Mount Baker – Boys
1A 113: Jorey Johnson defeated Zillah’s Jaime Alejandre by a 6-0 decision to move on to the semifinals.
1A 138: Jake Anderson pinned Omak’s Caden Johnson to advance to the semifinals.
1A 145: Daniel Washburn pinned Naches Valley’s Zane Johnson in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals.
1A 160: Elijah Washburn won by a 12-8 decision against Zillah’s Ricardo Gomez-Sanchez to advance to the semifinals.
1A 195: Thayer Brown pinned Riverside’s Brock Martin to advance to the semifinals.
Squalicum – Boys
2A 220: Bryson Lamb pinned Mark Morris’ Sebastian Vasquez to advance to the quarterfinals. Lamb defeated Selah’s Nelson Titan by an 11-3 major decision to move on to the semifinals.
Ferndale – Boys
3A 220: Sam Brulotte pinned Mountain View’s Jose Garcia to advance to the quarterfinals. Brulotte pinned Silas’ Sandor Buday in the quarterfinals to advance.
Consolation rounds
Blaine – Boys
1A 113: Tim Pomeroy, consolation round 3
1A 132: Nahum Vazquez, consolation round 3
1A 152: Jack Cheatham, consolation round 3
1A 285: Victor Gervol, consolation round 3
Blaine – Girls
110: Genesis Vazquez, consolation round 4
135: Milania Rodriguez, consolation round 4
Mount Baker – Girls
100: Tempest Heiner, consolation round 4
105: Ella Moa, consolation round 4
Bellingham – Boys
2A 195: Karson Chamberlin, consolation round 3
Bellingham United
140: Tegan Blackburn, consolation round 4
190: Issabella Phillips and Shayne Jiminez, consolation round 4
Lynden – Girls
235: Hannah Kayser, consolation round 4
Ferndale – Boys
3A 106: Alexzander DePass, consolation round 4
3A 113: Austin Merwin, consolation round 4
3A 132: Adrian Finsrud, consolation round 4
3A 145: Andrew Finsrud and Jacob Gandy, consolation round 4
3A 285: Gersai Herrera, consolation round 4
Ferndale – Girls
115: Malia Welch, consolation round 4
