The Borderites were kept achingly close from an outright state championship in the Mat Classic XXXVI at the Tacoma Dome on February 23, showing why Blaine wrestling is one of the best 1A programs in the state, with the girls team placing 15th with 66 points, and the boys team placing 18th with 67 points.
The boys wrestling team finished its season with three podium placers at the state tournament and a district championship among its accomplishments, and the girls team punched way above its weight at the Mat Classic, earning 15th place with just four wrestlers competing among teams with plenty more, along with a second place district finish.
Senior heavyweight Otto Shelton led the charge for the Borderites at the Mat Classic last weekend, winning his first two rounds by pin before falling to Angel Levya of Wapato in the semifinal round. Shelton went on to win the third-place match over Montesano’s Logan Roberts – the number one ranked heavyweight 1A wrestler in the state – by a 4-0 decision.
Battling illness for the past week and unable to fully practice prior to the tournament, Shelton had to dig deep to finish off his high school wrestling career on a high note, and dig deep he did.
“He wrestled a really calculated third place match,” head coach Tom Hinz said. “He was so energized from the day and wrestled a really great match. He was super proud of his execution and just his preparation for it. You don’t always get to stand on top of the podium, but sometimes taking third is more than you ever dreamed of.”
The demands of a state tournament, where wrestlers have possibly three straight days of all out effort with consecutive matches having as little as a 30-minute rest in between, aren’t lost on Hinz. But he said the atmosphere and finality of the Mat Classic usually get his team invigorated enough to tough out the breakneck pace.
“It gets them hyped up,” Hinz said. “But the thing is, they make it their goal to place at state. Sometimes it’s really hard to achieve your goal and [continue to] wrestle the next two matches.”
Daniel Johner was a perfect example of that, Hinz said. The 132-pounder knew he earned at least a podium finish early in the tournament, a yearlong goal of his. But he had to continue to wrestle tougher and tougher opponents, a mental hurdle that not every wrestler can clear, Hinz said.
Johner won his first two rounds, reaching the semifinals where he lost to Castle Rock’s Cooper Williams, a returning state champion.
“He wrestled great. It was an awesome tournament for him,” Hinz said. “He knew that he was on the wall, and he respects so many of the people that are on our wall.”
Vinnie Saia was the third wrestler to also place on the podium, finishing sixth in the 120-pound division after going 3-3, losing in the fifth-place match to Hoquiam’s Junior Soto.
Hinz said he’s excited to see how his core group of young wrestlers improves upon a great year come 2026, and expects another stellar season ahead with a strong group of freshman and graduating eighth graders.
“We just had a really solid core group of kids that really enjoy each other,” Hinz said. “Super tough kids that came in every single day and battled.”
Results courtesy of TrackWrestling.com
Despite entering just four wrestlers into the 1B/2B/1A state tournament, the Blaine girls wrestling program had a banner day, placing 15th among the field, the third-best performance among Whatcom County teams in the same classification.
“I’m ecstatic about how we played,” head coach Damon Higgins said. “15th place with four girls and each girl got at least two wins while we were there. We we’re good, we did what we came to do.”
Julianne Whaley, the fifth Blaine wrestler to qualify for the tournament, was forced to bow out due to a shoulder injury, Higgins said.
Analicea Ordonez earned a podium placement, finishing in third in the 155-pound division after going 4-1, and Abigail Marquez finished with a 2-2 record at the tournament after falling in her first round and then winning her next two matches by pin.
Senior Makenna Lausier led the way for the Borderites throughout the weekend with the team’s highest podium finish, earning second place in the 105-pound division. Lausier was defeated in the championship round by Malia Riojas, who Higgins said is one of the best lightweight wrestlers in the country.
Lausier dominated the start of her tournament, defeating Isabella Tiwebemal (Kettle Falls), Savvy Grimm (East Jefferson) and Madison Magana (Connell) en route to her second-place finish, but couldn’t get the final win for a state championship.
Higgins commended Lausier for her constant improvement throughout her high school wrestling career, which started as a freshman where she won just one match all season, to now finishing on a podium at the Mat Classic. After a heartbreaking loss in the championship round, her final as a high school wrestler, Higgins reminded her of a promise he made to her in the seventh grade.
“I told her that if she stuck with wrestling and put her all into it, we would get her to the Tacoma Dome and she would end up wrestling for a state championship,” Higgins said. “She looked at me with this wonderful Makenna smile and goes, ‘I don’t remember that.’ I remember it. We pinky promised on it.”
Higgins said the future of the Blaine girls wrestling program is bright, and the returning class of wrestlers that made it through the heavily taxing season of wrestling will be ready to reload come next season.
“You have to be a little sadomasochistic. You have to enjoy giving and receiving pain,” Higgins said. “The girls who can stay through that and become strong through that, they’re able to create a core unit that will be able to withstand a lot of external pressure.”
Ending this season with multiple podium finishers will create a solid foundation for years to come, Higgins said.
“I’m looking at this young group of girls, they stayed with it, they’re building their skills and they’re hungry to wrestle more,” Higgins said. “When you have that as a starting point for next year, that’s really exciting as a coach. When you have kids that care and want to do it, that’s really exciting.”
Results courtesy of TrackWrestling.com
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