The East Jefferson Rivals wrestling team competed in five events between Jan. 25 and Feb. 1, catapulting the team into February.
Two teams went to tournaments within 10 …
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The East Jefferson Rivals wrestling team competed in five events between Jan. 25 and Feb. 1, catapulting the team into February.
Two teams went to tournaments within 10 miles of each other in the Silverdale area on Saturday, Jan. 25. Thirteen boys attended the 14-team Klahowya Tournament, while six girls attended the Lady Cougar 18-team event at Central Kitsap High School.
Manaseh Lanphear Ramirez went 4-0 on the day and won his second tournament this season at 150 pounds. Finn Evans went 3-2 on the day at 144 pounds. Ethan Perovich went 3-2 on the day at 175 pounds. Other EJ wrestlers who gained valuable mat time and finished the day with a win included Aiden Kraft, Rylan Dunn, Silas Klontz, Mason Iverson and Aidan Powell.
Savvanah “Savvy” Grimm went 3-1 on the day, wrestling up a weight class at 110 pounds in an effort to challenge herself. She placed third. Gracee Liskee went 3-2 on the day and placed fourth in the 120-pound division. Ursula Schmidt went 2-2 on the day and placed fourth in the 145-pound weight class. Lenore Geelan had another solid showing, winning a match in the 145-pound weight class.
Three days later, the girls again filed into the school van, this time for the journey to Vashon to compete in the Nisqually League mixer. That consisted of girls from EJ, Cascade Christian, Life Christian and Vashon. (Klahowya was invited as well, but did not attend.)
“Two of our girls wrestled great tonight, Savvy Grimm and Lenore Geelan,” said coach Jim Wilcox. “They both had solid competition and grinded through their matches to come up with wins.”
Wilcox said, “Savvy was down 6-3 in her match before reversing and pinning her Life Christian Opponent in a tight cradle. Lenore got taken down initially but kept fighting. She later reversed and pinned her opponent as well.”
On Jan. 28, the Rivals hosted senior night and the final dual meet of the season against Life Christian Academy. “In another thrilling dual meet, our team came up on the short end of the stick with a final score of 39-36, but we showed lots of fight in our matches,” said Wilcox. “We unfortunately had five of our kids out of the starting line-up for various reasons, but the remaining team members almost pulled off the win by digging deep and gutting out some great wins.”
One notable win for the Rivals was Mason Iverson pinning the No. 8 ranked wrestler in the state — Life Christian’s Zachary McNight — in the first round.
Other wins from the EJ Rivals included Caleb Johnson at 132, Finn Evans at 144, Grady White at 157, Rylen Kruse at 175 and Silas Klontz at 190.
“Silas was down 9-0 going into the third round. He knew he could compete with his opponent, and exploded off the line at the start of the final period,” said coach Cordell Johnson. “He managed to lock up and throw his opponent to the mat, securing the hard-earned win by pin and bringing the crowd to a roar.”
On Saturday, Feb. 1, six female Rivals competed in the Mascara Madness Tournament in North Mason. Ursula Schmidt went 3-1 over the course of the day and earned a third place finish at 155 pounds. Lenore Geelan (140 pounds) and Eliana Anderson (125 pounds) both won a match during the event.
Ryan White is a wrestling coach at Port Townsend High School.
