Six Oak Harbor High School wrestlers fought through the tough Region I Tournaments Saturday, Feb. 14, to qualify for the state meet.
The state tournament, Mat Classic XXVII, is Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20 and 21, at the Tacoma Dome.
The top four in each regional weight class snared slots at state.
Christian Bertram (120 pounds) snagged the regional title, Constant Jackson (285) and Jeremy Vester (138) each placed second, Mark Johnston (145) finished third and Tyler Adamson (285) was fourth at the boys meet at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.
At the girls regional at Bellingham High School, Amber Cramsey-Behnke (235) placed fourth.
Cramsey-Behnke placed third and Vester fourth at state in 2014. This will be Johnston’s fourth state trip and the third for Bertram and Constant.
“Good regionals,” coach Peter Esvelt said. “Christian wrestled great, continuing to improve through the post season. Mark and Jeremy both wrestled well in, my opinion, the two toughest weight classes in our region. Both at 138 and 145, ranked wrestlers were left out of the state tournament.
“At 285, it had been our goal for four years to take two heavies to state, so Tyler placing fourth was big. Jackson’s win in OT was great as well; a great matching leading into state.”
Bertram, ranked seventh by the Washington Wrestling Report, defeated 10th ranked Joel Delgradillo of Everett 12-6 in the finals.
Vester, ranked third, lost 4-3 to second-ranked West Weinert of Stanwood in the finals. It was the third time this season Vester lost a close, low-scoring bout to Weinert.
Sixth-ranked Constant fell to top-ranked Mosese Fifita in the championship match after defeated seventh-ranked Erca Erdenebayer of Shorewood in overtime in the semifinals.
Johnston, ranked eighth, opened the tournament by pinning 12th-ranked Taron Castleton of Mountlake Terrace before losing in the semifinals to eventual champion and fifth-ranked Cooper McAuslan of Arlington.
Adamson, ranked 11th, lost 5-2 to Erdenebayer in the opening round and then won twice before losing to Erdenebayer again in the match for third and fourth.
Cramsey-Behnke, ranked fourth, lost in the semifinals to third-ranked Akemi Schwinden of Mount Baker.
Nate Mecom (170) and Meredith Bain (170) also competed for Oak Harbor, and both failed to qualify for state.
The Oak Harbor boys were seventh in team scoring in the 15-team regional meet with 80 points. Arlington won with 180.
“Our goal for state is to keep getting better this week and peak at state,” Esvelt said. “We like to say, ‘to be the best, you have to beat the best,’ and we have match-ups in the first day that will put that to the test.”
Oak Harbor boys results at Region I:
Bertram, 120 (first): won by pin, 5:47; won 6-0; won 12-6.
Vester, 138 (second): won 9-1; won 11-4; lost 4-3.
Johnston, 145 (fourth): won by pin, 1:04; lost by pin, 5:55; won 7-4; won 7-6.
Mecom, 170: lost by pin, 3:07; lost by pin, :45.
Constant, 285 (second): won by pin, 2:31; won 3-1; lost by pin, 1:29.
Adamson, 285 (fourth): lost 5-2; won 9-3; won 3-2; lost by pin, :59.
Oak Harbor girls results at Region I:
Bain, 170: lost by pin, 1:16; lost by pin, 1:35.
Cramsey-Behnke, 235 (fourth): won by pin, 1:09; lost by pin, 3:03; won 8-0; lost 6-4.
