Blaine places 13th as a team at the state wrestling tournament
By Oliver Lazenby
Blaine’s Jacob Westfall took third place in the 182-pound weight class and led the Borderites to a 13th place team finish at the Mat Classic – the state high school wrestling tournament – on February 16-17 at the Tacoma Dome.
Westfall, a junior, beat two wrestlers who placed in state last year and pinned his opponent in the third-place match.
“He wrestled like a madman the whole second day,” Blaine head coach Colt Warren said. “It was quite the performance.”
Blaine wrestlers faced tough competition from schools outside their conference and region and fell short of their team goal of placing in the top eight in the 2A division, Warren said.
“The teams from Eastern Washington definitely brought some fire power,” he said. “It wasn’t tougher than we expected, but it definitely was tough.”
Six of the top 10 schools came from Eastern Washington.
White River High School, outside Enumclaw, won the team title. Blaine placed better than all its 2A Northwest Conference opponents; Burlington-Edison, the next best Northwest Conference school, placed 17th.
Blaine junior Aidan Button wrestled his way to a fifth place finish in the 152-pound class and senior Chase DuBois ended his high school wrestling career with a 7th place finish in the 160-pound class.
Caleb Bullard, Porter Schmidt, Saul Magallon and Josy Delgadillo also wrestled at the event but fell short of placing. Magallon, a returning state champion at 195 pounds, wasn’t “at full health,” Warren said.
Though the Borderites hoped to place higher, Warren said the team is looking forward to next year.
“It’s been a fun year and I want to thank the community for all the support this year,” he said.
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Photos by Oliver Hamlin
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