Blaine wrestlers look toward postseason

Blaine’s Aidan Button wrestles an opponent from Bellingham during a January 23 meet at Bellingham High School. Photo by Christina Hall

By Oliver Lazenby

The Blaine boys varsity wrestling team ended its regular season by sweeping a dual match against Bellingham and Sehome and then finishing strong at a weekend tournament.

At this point, Blaine wrestlers are making final adjustments before the postseason, said assistant coach Nate Button.

“We’ve put in a really strong regular season. We’ve wrestled against a level of competition that will allow us to reach our potential,” Button said. “Now we’re just honing in on those little things that are going to make a big difference in postseason matches.”

On January 23 at Bellingham High School, the Borderites beat their conference opponents Bellingham and Sehome by scores of 53–18 and 48–23.

On January 26, despite having several top wrestlers on the bench resting minor injuries, Blaine placed seventh out of 16 teams at the Berserker Tournament at Curtis Junior High School in University Place.

Blaine’s top individual placers at Berserker were Nahum Vasquez (third place at 113 pounds), Alex Hall (fourth at 145) and Aidan Button (second at 160).

Next, Blaine wrestlers head to the sub-regional tournament, which starts at 6 p.m. on Friday, February 1 at Sedro Woolley High School. Most Blaine varsity wrestlers will compete in the sub-regional tournament, as teams are allowed two wrestlers per weight class.

The top four at sub-regionals advance to the regional tournament on February 9 at Blaine High School.