Twenty teams with names like the Steel Claw Wrestling Club, the Skagit Valley Yellow Jackets and the Wrestling Rhinos, and a total of 203 young grapplers packed the gym at Oak Harbor High School Saturday for the first Wildcats Folkstyle Classic Wrestling Tournament.
This tournament was open to novice and elite wrestlers in Pee Wee to Senior divisions and was the final competition before the folkstyle state tournament set for Jan. 27 and 28 in Spokane.
The action was almost non-stop on the 10 mats squeezed into the gym, but John Fisken from Oak Harbor and a loyal group of helpers kept things from becoming too chaotic.
“Everyone working here today, including the referees, are all volunteers,” he said. “Tomorrow we have the Western Washington Kids Wrestling League championships and that should be even bigger.”
Fisken had his hands full making sure his runners got the correct score sheets to the scorers working the tables at the 10 mats, and then making sure the winners and losers were recorded and their names transferred on to the divisional bracket sheets in the dome.
The dome itself was a busy place.
In addition to being a warm-up area for wrestlers in upcoming bouts, the refreshment tables and a table where you could purchase commemorative T-shirts were bustling.
The Wildcats’ Classic featured both boy and girl wrestlers, and several female participants held their own in what has been a mostly male-dominated sport.
“This is my first year wrestling and I like it so far,” said Kayla DeWeese from Edmonds, who lost her first bout in the 75-pound novice division by decision to Oak Harbor’s Anthony Smith. “This was just my first match today and things are going to get better.”
Youth wrestling around the state has become a training ground for female grapplers and in the next couple of years, some high schools are slated to have girl wrestling teams.
The boys didn’t have much to say after their respective bouts, but hands raised in victory along with big smiles on their faces said more than enough.
By all accounts the first ever Wildcat Classic was a rousing success and is scheduled to become an annual event in Oak Harbor.
