Oak Harbor sends 3 to state tournament / Wrestling

Three Wildcats will represent the Oak Harbor High School wrestling team at the state tournament, Mat Classic 30, at the Tacoma Dome Friday and Saturday, Feb. 16 and 17.

Michael Fisken (220 pounds), Caleb Fitzgerald (126) and Blake McBride (145), all juniors, finished among the top four at the regional tournament last weekend at Edmonds-Woodway High School to earn a state berth.

Blake Servatius (113) and Jakob Dailey (120) both took fifth and are alternates.

Oak Harbor finished seventh in the regional team standings with 90 points. Kennewick’s Kamiakin High School won the title over 14 other schools with 305.5 points.

“Overall, I was pretty happy with our performance,” Oak Harbor coach Larry Falcon said.

Region 3 is considered one of the strongest in the state, with the powerful Western Conference joined by three schools from the Tri-Cities area. This year Kamiakin came in ranked third in the Washington Wrestling Report state 3A poll, followed by fourth-ranked Southridge of Kennewick, which finished second in the regional team standings.

Fisken, ranked eighth in his class by WWR, finished third at the regional tournament with a 4-1 record, including two falls. He defeated sixth-ranked Generous Yeh of Edmonds-Woodway 1-0 in the match for third place.

Fitzgerald, ranked 12th, won his first two matches to reach the semifinals, where he lost to third-ranked Grayson LeCompte of Edmonds-Woodway. An overtime win in the consolation bracket put him in the match for third and fourth places, where he lost 9-1 to fourth-ranked Giovanni Penaloza of Southridge.

McBride, ranked fifth, competed in the toughest bracket in Region 3; three of the four wrestlers above him in the state rankings were also at Edmonds-Woodway. McBride won twice before losing 3-0 to third-ranked Joey Chavez of Kamiakin. Another win set up a match with fourth-ranked Ryan Nett of Southridge for third place; Nett edged McBride 2-1.

McBride placed sixth in last year’s state meet.

Eight other Oak Harbor boy wrestlers qualified for the regional tournament; two, Chase Ogden and Shingo Johnston, were injured and could not compete.

Aaron Fletcher (160) split his six matches and finished sixth.

Jamal Graham (106), Shamus Warden (113), Ethan Pace (170), Hayden Campbell (285) and Nathaniel Nunez (285) all won one of three matches.

Elizabeth Clairmont (125), Oak Harbor’s only qualifier in the girls regional tournament in Sedro-Woolley, dropped both her matches.

Oak Harbor results at the regional tournament

106, Jamal Graham: lost 11-9; bye; won 8-6; lost 7-6.

113, Blake Servatius (fifth place): won by fall, :56; lost by fall, 5:11; won by fall, :56; won 10-9; lost 11-6; won 6-4.

113, Shamus Warden: lost 16-1; won by fall, 4:49; lost by fall, :56.

120, Jakob Dailey (fifth): won 6-5; lost 4-1; won 6-1; won 4-2 (overtime); lost 7-2; won 3-1.

126, Caleb Fitzgerald (fourth): won by fall, 3:22; won 4-1; lost by fall, 3:44; won 4-2 (overtime); lost 9-1.

145, Blake McBride (fourth): won 4-3; won 8-5; lost 3-0; won 5-3 (overtime); lost 2-1.

160, Aaron Fletcher (sixth): won by fall, 5:42; lost by fall, 1:20; won 10-2; won by fall, 3:29; lost by fall, 1:41; lost by fall, :57.

170, Ethan Pace: lost by fall, 2:46; bye; won 11-2; lost 6-4.

220, Michael Fisken (third): bye; lost 13-3; won by fall, 2:36; won by fall, 2:10; won 8-3; won 1-0.

285, Hayden Campbell: won 3-2; lost 1-0; lost 6-1.

285, Nathaniel Nunez: won by fall, 2:18; lost 16-9; lost by fall, 3:52.

125, Elizabeth Clairmont: lost by fall, :42; lost 14-11.

Oak Harbor’s Michael Fisken begins the second round on top in his 1-0 win over Edmonds-Woodway’s Generous Yeh in the third-place match. (Photo by John Fisken)