PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles will be featuring five state-ranked wrestlers at today’s Olympic Shootout: “The Battle for the Axe” tournament at Port Angeles High School.
Sequim sports two state-ranked competitors, the team’s two co-captains, at the eight-team meet.
Action starts at 10 a.m. for the seventh annual event and will continue until about 4:30 p.m.
Host Port Angeles is the defending champion and is in Pool 1 along with Class 4A Central Kitsap, 1A Ocosta and 2A Eatonville while Sequim is in Pool 2 with All-Stars, River Ridge and Bainbridge.
All teams are 2A except for Central Kitsap and Ocosta.
The five ranked Port Angeles wrestlers to watch are sophomore Josh Basden at 113 pounds, ranked No. 8; junior Kody Steele at 152, ranked No. 7; junior Kacee Garner at 160, ranked No. 6; junior Brian Cristion at 182, ranked No. 5; and senior Zach Grall at 195, ranked No. 6.
Another competitor to watch is freshman Brady Anderson at 106, who wasn’t ranked in the latest poll despite winning two prestigious tournaments already this year in his weight class.
As a team, the Roughriders have finished in third place in major tournaments the past two weeks.
“I’m excited about where we are,” Port Angeles coach Erik Gonzalez said.
“We need to keep moving forward and take the next step.”
It would be a major step for the Riders to win the 2011 “The Battle for the Axe” and become the first team to repeat as champion.
Port Angeles has two wins in the first six years, captured the very first Axe in 2004.
The Riders will go against two highly ranked wrestlers in their pool.
They open the tourney at 10a.m. in Round 1 against 4A Central Kitsap, which features the top-ranked heavyweight in state.
Kyle Lanque, a senior, will be a hand-full for all the teams.
One of the most interesting matches of the tourney could come at 182 pounds as Cristion is set to go against the No. 4-ranked wrestler in 2A state in senior Freddie Baumann of Eatonville.
If the two end up in the same weight, they will meet face-to-face in Round 4 starting at 3 p.m.
The Riders also go against Ocosta at 11:30 a.m. in Round 2.
Sequim, meanwhile, has two ranked wrestlers in senior co-captains Dakota Hinton and Clay Charlie.
Hinton is ranked No. 6 at 170 pounds while Charlies is ranked No. 10 at heavyweight.
The Wolves will take on the All-Stars at 10 a.m., River Ridge at 11:30 a.m. and Bainbridge at 1:30 p.m.
The crossover competition, Round 4, starts at 3 p.m. where the No. 1 teams in each pool face off on Mat 1, the No. 2s wrestle on Mat 2, the No. 3s compete on Mat 3 and the No. 4s wrestle on Mat 4.
Boys Basketball
Neah Bay 42,
Crescent 22
NEAH BAY — Leyton Doherty sank 13 points to spark the Red Devils to the nonleague victory Monday night.
Doherty also had six rebounds and four steals in the game.
Neah Bay led 22-8 at halftime and never looked back.
Michael Dulik netted nine points and had four steals for the Red Devils while Josiah Greene led on the boards with 11 rebounds.
Zeke Greene had perfect balance with seven rebounds and seven points.
Kai Story led the Loggers with 12 points and 11 rebounds while Derrick Findley brought down 10 boards and Joel Williams earned eight rebounds.
Neah Bay 42, Crescent 22
Crescent 6 2 4 10 — 22
Neah Bay 9 13 12 8 — 42
Individual Scoring
Crescent (22)
Story 12, Findley 5, Williams 5.
Neah Bay (42)
Doherty 13, J. Greene 4, Z. Greene 7, Dulik 9, Pascua 2, Venske 2, Halttunen 3, Hanson 2.
Girls Basketball
Neah Bay 76,
Crescent 21
NEAH BAY — The hot-shooting Red Devils remained perfect on the year with the easy nonleague victory Monday night.
Neah Bay led 39-11 at halftime and rolled to the win.
Five players scored in double figures for the Red Devils to spark a balanced attack.
Kaela Tyler led everybody with 13 points while Countney Winck and Cherish Moss scored 11 each and Merissa Murner and Cierra Moss netted 10 apiece.
Faye Chartraw and Tyler had five rebounds each while Tyler also had three assists and three steals.
High scorer for the game was Crescent’s Sara Moore, who sank 17, scoring all but four points for the Loggers.
Neah Bay 76, Crescent 21
Crescent 4 7 8 2 — 21
Neah Bay 20 19 19 18 — 76
Individual Scoring
Crescent (22)
Moore 17, Hartley 2, Belford 2.
Neah Bay (76)
Greene 3, Hahn 4, Thompson 6, Tyler 13, Murner 10, Winck 11, Cherish Moss 11, Cierra Moss 10, Chartraw 8.