The girls on the Port Townsend High School wrestling team traveled to North Mason Jan. 17 for the Olympic League Girls’ Dual, during which they wrestled one match each in dual format.

Notching wins for the Redhawks were Ally Bradley at 105 pounds, Emillia Nunn at 115 pounds, and Brenna Franklin at 170 pounds.

The Port Townsend boys traveled to Port Angeles Jan. 18 for the Battle of the Axe, during which the Redhawks lost to Forks and Port Angeles, but beat Sequim.

“I was really proud of our boys against Forks, who are ranked second in the state,” coach Steve Grimm said. “We fought and didn’t give in.”

PT’s Ryan Caldwell started the night by beating eighth-ranked Shane Queen, before his brother Kyle, at 195 pounds, went into triple overtime against Eden Cisneros, who placed sixth at state last year.

“He’s only a freshman, but he’s challenging state placers,” Grimm said.

PT’s Gabe Petrick, who was down by 12, ended up pinning fourth-ranked Colby Denmorist, at 160 pounds, while Jesus Duran was 3-0 toward also pinning his Forks opponent.

“But in the end, Forks just had too many high-level wrestlers to contend with,” Grimm said. “They’re a pretty stacked team.”

Grimm attributed PT’s loss to Port Angeles to coming out “flat” after the Redhawks’ fight with Forks.

“PA came out ready to go, and won a few key matches that got them the win,” Grimm said. “I also, regretfully, bumped all my upper weights up by one weight class, to fill 220.”

As Grimm noted, PT still earned wins, but didn’t get pins, and a pin is worth 6 points, while a win is only 3.

“I think, if I’d kept everyone at their previous weights, we might have done better,” Grimm said.

The Redhawks’ match against Sequim came next.

“After our loss to PA, we weren’t messing around,” Grimm said. “We won that dual by a large margin.”

HILL TAKES A FIRST

The PT boys and girls then headed to Lakes High School Jan. 20, with the girls competing in the Lady Lance Lipstick, while the boys squared off in the End of Days Invitational.

Of the PT girls, Bradley placed second at 105 pounds, Kalista Hill placed first at 135 pounds, and Veda Dosey placed second at 140 pounds.

Of the PT boys, Petrick placed first at 160 pounds, and Ryan Caldwell placed third at 182 pounds.

Grimm deemed Hill and Petrick the “wrestlers of the week,” since it was the first time either one of them had placed first.

“Also, for the Lady Lance Lipstick tournament, Kalista is our first winner since 2016,” Grimm said. “The tournament has a tradition where the winner in the girls’ bracket puts on lipstick and kisses her winning bracket, hence the name. It’s a unique thing they do that always leads to good photos.”

Prior to the tournament, Grimm spoke to his wrestlers about approaching the postseason.

“I told them we’ve got to turn it up and start winning the big matches,” Grimm said. “With three girls in the finals, the girls have definitely turned it on.”

FINAL DUAL WITH CASCADE

Jan. 25 marked Port Townsend’s final dual with Cascade Christian, which the Redhawks beat 60-15, earning PT the Nisqually-Olympic 1A League Championship. The Redhawks remain undefeated in league matches, 4-0.

Notching wins for PT were Bradley at 106 pounds, Carter Swartout at 113 pounds, Ian Linn Glasgow at 126 pounds, Duran at 132 pounds, Hill at 138 pounds, Odin Smith at 152 pounds, Petrick at 160 pounds, Dylan Tracer at 170 pounds, Ryan Caldwell at 182 pounds, and Tucker Booth at 285 pounds.

“This was a big day for us,” Grimm said. “As a team, we’ve been looking forward to this win since we knocked off Vashon at home in December. We have not won the league championships since probably 2006.”

Grimm pointed out that this marks PT’s first year in a 1A league, after being in the 2A Olympic League with nine teams.

“I am extremely proud of this team,” Grimm said. “They’re competitive, they work super hard, and because of that, they have a rare confidence. They expect to win every time they wrestle.”

On the other side of the coin, PT wrestled 4A Auburn that same day and lost 30-51.

Redhawk winners included Duran, Smith, Tracer, Kyle Caldwell and Elias Iardella.

Of the PT girls, 170-pound Franklin and 190-pound Jamie Rogers both won by pin against Auburn.

EVERYONE GETS A MEDAL

On Jan. 27 at Klahowya, all of PT’s wrestlers placed, since not all of them put in appearances.

Of the Redhawks who showed up, 182-pound Ryan Caldwell claimed second place, while third-place scores went to 195-pound Kyle Caldwell, 285-pound Booth, 170-pound Tracer and 160-pound Dalen Ufford, with 113-pound Swartout taking fifth place.

“We only brought six boys, so everyone we brought won a medal,” Grimm said. “Some stayed home to recover before postseason and get their homework done before next week.”

Subregional tournaments are set for Feb. 3, during which the PT girls are slated to travel to Thomas Jefferson High School, with the top five from that tourney moving onto regionals. The PT boys head to Vashon Island, after which the top four move onto regionals.