TACOMA — Wrestling in a frenzied Tacoma Dome, Forks grapplers came in third among 1A schools at the Mat Classic this weekend, with veteran Spartan Luke Dahlgren finally breaking through with a long-awaited state championship in the 285-pound division.
It was likely Dahlgren’s final wrestling match ever as he is a senior and is planning on playing football for Eastern Washington University in the fall. And what an ending.
Dahlgren finished fourth at the Mat Classic in 2018 at 220 pounds. This year, he dominated his 285 weight class, leaving no doubt that he was going for the state title. In the finals, he pinned Hunter Reinhart of Cascade in the championship bout with a pin in 2 minutes, 27 seconds.
“We’re happy to get rid of the Dahlgren curse,” said his coach Bob Wheeler. Dahlgren’s older brother, Jack, was an accomplished wrestler for the Spartans, as well, but was never able to win a state championship. Jack Dahlgren finished second at 195 pounds in 2017, losing the championship bout 8-6.
“He’s a good kid, a nice kid. And he’s worked hard,” Wheeler said.
How good was Luke this year? He only lost two matches all year: Isaiah Perez of Othello and Sven Lukner of Sedro-Woolley, both 2A wrestlers. Perez and Lukner just happened to be in the 285-pound 2A finals, with Perez winning.
While Luke Dahlgren did lose a bout to Lukner, he also beat Lukner on another occasion this season.
Forks’ Colby Demorest made to the championship bout at 182 pounds. He was finally beaten by John Knight of Colville (who finished the year 29-0) to finish second.
The Olympic Peninsula dominated the 182-pound division in fact. Dylan Tracer of Port Townsend finished third at 182, while Shane Queen of Forks finished fourth. Tracer beat Queen in the consolation finals 16-6.
The Mat Classic was a beehive of activity this weekend as the recent snowstorms canceled the state regionals, meaning each bracket began with 32 wrestlers instead of 16. Because there were so many matches to be wrestled, the event went until late Saturday night. Wheeler said his team didn’t get out of the Tacoma Dome until around midnight Sunday.
Forks tallied 211.5 points, coming in a solid third as Forks, Granger and Colville dominated the meet. Colville won with 259 points, while Granger had 223. The Spartans bettered last year’s fourth-place finish, sixth-place finish in 2017 and 10th in 2016. It was Forks’ best finish at the Mat Classic since the Spartans finished second in 2014.
Forks has finished in the top 10 at the Mat Classic for seven straight years now.
Forks had a total of 12 wrestlers place in the top 8.
Wheeler thought that in a normal year, the Spartans might’ve won the state championship. Because regionals were canceled, more kids went to the Mat Classic than normal. This might’ve helped Colville and Granger because Wheeler thinks the Spartans would have had the same number of wrestlers at Tacoma if the regionals had been held, while Colville and Granger may have gotten more kids into the Tacoma Dome with the regionals canceled.
A total of 18 Olympic Peninsula wrestlers placed, with 12 Forks wrestlers, two from Port Angeles, two from Port Townsend, one from Chimacum and one Port Townsend girl placing.
Other Forks wrestlers placing include:
Tristan Pisani, fourth, 220 pounds.
Eden Cisneros, sixth, 220 pounds.
Keith Thompson, sixth, 145 pounds.
Jake Weakley, seventh, 120 pounds.
Colton Duncan, seventh, 126 pounds.
Hayden Baker, seventh, 152 pounds.
Hayden Queen, seventh, 160 pounds.
Brett Moody, sixth, 170 pounds.
Andres Santos-Delacruz, eighth, 113 pounds.
Port Angeles placed a pair of wrestlers. The Roughriders, who won the Olympic League 2A Division championship, placed Riley Gale sixth at 160 pounds and Adam Borde eighth at 126. Port Angeles ended up with 32 points for 35th out of 63 2A schools at the Mat Classic.
Port Angeles coach Rob Gale pointed out that Olympic League 2A teams only placed a total of four wrestlers at the Mat Classic (with two of them from Port Angeles), so it was a feat to place wrestlers this year.
“2A this year was probably the toughest I have seen in my 15 years coaching with Toppenish, White Pass and Orting,” Gale said.
Port Townsend had a nice meet, placing four wrestlers total (one is officially from Chimacum, but practised and trained with the Port Townsend team). Port Townsend finished 25th in the 1A class with 48 team points.
“Four state medalist is the most I’ve had as a coach. I am very proud of this group. They stayed focused and believed in themselves,” said coach Steve Grimm.
In addition to Tracer’s third-place finish, the Redhawks placed Gabe Petrick fifth at 160 pounds (with a pin in his final match in 13 seconds). Port Townsend’s Brenna Franklin placed sixth at 170 pounds for the girls.
Chimacum’s Kyle Caldwell placed eighth at 195 pounds.
“Our kids wrestled at a high level both days, We couldn’t have ask for better results. Also, Dylan and Kyle will be in the hunt for a state championship next year. Port Townsend hasn’t had one since 1983,” Grimm said.
