TACOMA — As the stakes grew higher and the competition increased, North Olympic Peninsula wrestlers upped their games in the quarterfinals of the state wrestling tournament at the Tacoma Dome.
The Forks boys team won 8 of 11 first-round contests Friday and saw four of its eight quarterfinalists advance to the Mat Classic XXVII semifinals.
Port Angeles advanced three of its four first-round winners to the semifinals and sat sixth in the 2A ranks after day one, with six of its nine wrestlers making it to the medal rounds.
Forks had two girls advance to the semifinals, and Port Townsend’s Chloe Johnson is one win from the finals.
Entering day two, the Forks boys stood fourth in the Class 1A ranks with 58 points, well back of first-place Freeman’s 98. Colville has 60.5 good for second and Royal is at 58.5, a half-point ahead of Forks, in third.
“We’re doing well. It could be better, but it can always be better,” Spartans coach Bob Wheeler said.
Sebastian Morales at 113 pounds, 120-pounder Alvaro Ortiz, Jack Dahlgren at 182 and heavyweight Miguel Morales are made it through with a shot at climbing to the top of the podium after the final round.
Miguel Morales was the most impressive of the Forks contingent.
He left first-round opponent Dylan Kole of Sultan wondering what him after a 36-second pin. Morales completely obliterated Kole, throwing him to the mat immediately after the opening handshake.
Morales followed with a cagey performance in a 12-4 decision that clearly frustrated the larger Gavin Brumley of Naches Valley.
Morales employed his speed and quickness advantage to earn takedowns, staying upright for most of the match and avoiding the trap of letting Brumley take him to the mat.
Sebastian Morales earned his second major decision in as many matches with a 16-6 win against Highland’s Manuel Cisneros. He earned a 14-5 major decision win over Lakeside’s Jesse Woll to open the tourney.
Ortiz claimed a 11-7 decision in triple overtime in his opening match against Kiki Chabolla of Royal, and controlled the pace in his quarterfinal matchup with Vashon’s Shane Williams Jr., winning 7-0.
Dahlgren picked up a first-round pin his match with Cascade’s DJ Ferry, and followed that with a convincing quarterfinal pin at 3:00 of his quarterfinal matchup with Sultan’s Matt Baller.
Also alive for Forks are Tristin Tumaua, who shook off a quarterfinal loss to claim two consolation wins at 285 pounds, and Garrison Schumack, who battled through a bloody nose to stay alive.
“He went for a switch and I grabbed his arm and his elbow hit me,” Schumack said.
“I was more worried about the blood than the opponent. It was pouring down pretty much the whole match, but I knew I had more gas than him.”
For Port Angeles, Brady Anderson won a decision over Selah’s Austin Au 9-3 in the 126-pound quarterfinals after shutting out Mark Morris’ Hyrum Robinson 7-0 to open the tournament.
“He really wrestled a smart, controlled match and didn’t let his guy have any openings,” Roughriders coach Erik Gonzalez said of Anderson’s first-round win.
Matt Robbins left little doubt of his championship intentions in his 195-pound quarterfinal, pinning Damon King of East Valley (Spokane) in just 55 seconds.
“He rolled pretty easily in that one,” Gonzalez said.
Earlier, Robbins controlled his match against Washougal’s Ruben Aguilar, winning 10-3.
Roberto Coronel overcame a set of second period stall warnings and point deductions from the referee with a pin at 5:16 against Centralia’s Jevon Brager.
“Sometimes referees really don’t understand that the big guys don’t have quite the energy of smaller wrestlers, and [the big wrestlers] get punished for it,” Gonzalez said.
“Roberto knew he had to keep driving in that third period,and he kept the intensity up to get that pin.”
Unfortunately for the Roughriders, 106-pounder Tyler Gale fell 7-2 to Orting’s top-ranked Alex Cruz in the quarterfinals. Earlier, he rolled over Hockinson’s Dale Anderson with a 16-0 technical fall victory.
Gale rebounded late in his consolation-round match, picking up a hard-fought 4-2 win against Renton’s Kendrick Untalan.
Ben Basden also is still alive for Port Angeles in the consolation bracket. He won two matches and still has a shot at reaching as high as third place.
The biggest upset of the opening round was Kyle La Fritz’ loss at 220 pounds. La Fritz could not find an opening against Rochester’s Matt Sheilds and fell 3-2.
La Fritz stayed alive with an 8-3 win over Washington’s David Camacho and a pin at 4:45 of his win-or-go-home contest with Tumwater’s Brin Hanson.
Evan Gallacci was disqualified from the tournament’s 182-pound bracket.
Gallacci was alleged to have bitten Washington’s Jacob Nelson in his first round match.
Nelson was ahead late in the match and applied a cross face move over Gallacci’s mouth.
“The referee saw it, their coach saw it, and there were imprints, so there’s nothing to be done about it,” Gonzalez said.
Port Angeles assistant Craig Danielson said it was the second disqualification in three years for biting for the Roughriders, Mike Meyers having been removed from the 2013 tourney for the same violation.
Port Townsend senior Shae Shoop lost 15-0 via technical fall to second-ranked Jacob Ellofsen of Montesano in the quarterfinals. He then was eliminated 15-13 by Royal’s Steven Toro.
The Redhawks’ other male wrestler, junior Jackson Schott, was pinned and eliminated by Naches Valley’s Kramier Patrick at 2:41 of their 126-pound contest.
The Sequim boys’ lone entrant, junior Kevyn Ward, saw his eight-match postseason unbeaten streak end when he was pinned at 3:45 of his opening match against Quincy’s Andy Vargas.
Ward rebounded with a 16-10 win against Tumwater’s Tristian Wallersted that nearly sent Wolves coach Charles Drabek to the hospital.
“I had about three heart attacks during the match because all the other kid would do is throw and we were trying to get Kevyn to realize that and work open,” Drabek said.
Ward fell 13-10 in his last match and was eliminated by R.A. Long’s Dustin Nading.
“He was ahead and gave up a throw to his back in the last 30 seconds,” Drabek said.
“I wanted to cry, especially after we went over that exact scenario.”
Three girls in semifinals
Forks advanced two girls to the semifinals, Tristen Williams at 105 pounds and Brooke Peterson at 145 pounds, while Port Townsend’s Chloe Rogers made the 140-pound semifinals after picking up the Redhawks’ first girls wins at state.
Peterson won by pin 1:15 into her 145-pound match with Yelm’s Madison Holmes, and followed up with a dominating performance, pinning Dajah Mendioloa of Mount Vernon at 1:15.
Too bad she couldn’t remember any of it.
“All my matches are a blur,” Peterson said. “I never know what happens. All I know is I can still win it all.”
Spartans assistant coach Frankie Torres liked what he saw from Peterson.
“She’s been highly technical and her attitude is incredible,” Torres said. “She wants to win, pure and simple.”
Tristen Williams owned Warden’s Mariah Garza, rolling to a 15-0 technical fall win to start, and booked her trip to the semis with a 5-4 win against Cecila Vu of Evergreen.
Forks’ Brynn Peterson was pinned 45 seconds into her match with Sedro-Woolley’s Lizzy Nichols, and was eliminated after being pinned 34 seconds into her match with Yelm’s Bethany Davis.
Rogers earned a 13-8 decision in the 140-pound division against Warden’s Ashley Martinez to open the tourney, and pinned Kalama’s Sam Zamudio at 1:31.
“In the beginning of the year, I didn’t think I would be able to get this far, and now I want to get to the top,” Rogers said.
“I’ve had some great partners [in teammates] Charity Jesionowski and Hannah Welch, and I have great coaches. I wouldn’t be here without them.
“It’s an honor to represent the school and the program and be [the] first.”
Ally Bradley went 0-2 at 105 pounds for the Redhawks.
After opening with an 18-1 technical fall victory, Sequim’s Alma Mendoza fell 9-7 in a last-second defeat in the 125-pound quarterfinals.
Mendoza rebounded with a pin at 4:40 against Zillah’s Marinna Vela to stay alive in the consolation rounds.
Wolves freshman Kiara Pierson overcame an opening-round loss with two consolation-bracket wins to stay alive at 115 pounds.
She beat Napavine’s Temperance Gibbons with a pin at 43 seconds, and followed up with an 11-4 decision against Mount Baker’s Korbyn Cadle.
Kaylee Ditlefsen was eliminated with a 1-2 record after a 7-6 defeat against Yelm’s Bethany Davis.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsualdailynews.com.
