BLAINE - Before Mount Baker heavyweight wrestler Alec Postlewait's championship match, the Mountaineers senior happened to take a peek at the projection screen scoreboard hanging over the Blaine High School gym and realized Mount Baker's sizable lead had drastically shrunk during the title round matches.
"Before the match I realized I needed to win for us to win (the tournament)," Postlewait said. "Coach (Ron Lepper) told me not to worry about it and just get a pin. So, I got him tied up and hit a throw that I could get."
After Postlewait got his opponent, Blaine's Michael Antczak, on his back following his throw, the Mount Baker heavyweight promptly pinned Antczak to seal the tournament win for the Mountaineers at the annual Battle at the Border on Saturday, Dec. 10, at Blaine High School.
Mount Baker totaled 245 points in the win, Todd Beamer finished with 242, Kentwood earned a third-place finish with 171 points, Mount Vernon took fourth with 157 points and Blaine finished in fifth place with 150 points. Sehome took seventh with 127 points, Ferndale finished eighth with 122.5 points, Lynden placed 11th with 82 points, Squalicum was 18th with 48 and Meridian took 19th with 38 points. A total of 22 schools from as far as Sequim to Federal Way competed in the two-day tournament.
Mount Baker created roughly a 20-point buffer between themselves and Todd Beamer throughout the early and mid-day matches, but once the championship round began, with each win, Todd Beamer crept closer and closer to Mount Baker.
"I told (Postlewait) if he wins, we win," said Lepper, who won the coach of the tournament award. "If he doesn't (win), we lose by three. If he wins, we win by three. He went out there and did his job like he's supposed to."
Although Postlewait was the only Mount Baker wrestler to win a weight class, by no means was he the only Mountaineer who had a stake in Saturday's tournament championship.
"For our first major competition of the year, I was pleased with our effort," Lepper said. "Beamer has a lot of studs, but we had the depth. We also had 33 pins, which was a lot more than any other team."
In all, Mount Baker had 11 different wrestlers place first-through-sixth - the most of any team at the tournament.
Besides Postlewait, Mount Baker's Carsen Monaghan placed second wrestling at 113, Joey Walton took fourth at 126, Nazar Bezugly finished third at 132, Zach Larson took second at 152, Jerrid George took fourth at 160, Levi Wigg placed fifth at 170, Vlas Bezugly finished third at 182, Tyrel Cronk took third at 195, Sterling Honeycutt finished fifth at 220 and Jake Larsen finished sixth at the 285 slot.
While Lepper had plenty to choose from, he said he was most pleased with the performances of George and Walton.
"Jerrid George missed all last year and this is his first time out," Lepper said. "I was really pleased with his performance. Walton got down in weight and got a good (placing) for us."
Mount Baker may have won the Battle at the Border and gained strong momentum moving forward in the season, but host school Blaine had more first-place finishers.
Blaine's Shaypher Hendricks and Caleb Johnson won their respective weight classes, as both seemingly breezed through the tournament.
Wrestling 10 pounds above his normal weight class out of the 152 class, Hendricks pinned all four opponents he faced en route to the title, including Mount Baker's Larson in the final.
"It felt really good to win," Hendricks said. "I was going to go at (138), but it felt good that I could still wrestle bigger guys. It gave me a lot of energy and inspiration for the season."
For Johnson, winning a title at the Battle at the Border was extra special, being he has been to every battle since he was in the third grade.
"It feels amazing," Johnson said with a huge grin. "I have been watching the older guys at this tournament for so long. I got a lot of motivation from watching Shaypher win his (championship) match. It's special because at most tournaments you don't have all the kids you go to school with watching and all your family and friends."
Johnson earned a pin over Ferndale's Kam Williams in the final.
One of the biggest movers from last year's battle to the 2011 version of the tournament was Sehome.
Sehome's Dante Gray, who finished in second place wrestling at 182, said he was pleased with how his Mariners performed, given their low finish last year.
"Last year, we didn't place as well," Gray said. "I think we finished fifth or something this year, so that's a huge improvement. I just got in there and fought tough (today)."
Sehome ended up in seventh, but still had a strong showing. As well as Gray's placing, Sehome's Carson Eiswald took third at 152, Andrew Callaghan finished forth at 182 and Titi Lamositele took third at 285.
Lynden's tournament was highlighted by the performance of Ryan Meggison, who earned a second-place finish wrestling at 145.
"It was probably the best tournament I've ever wrestled in" said Meggison, who was seeing his first mat time of the season. "It's my first tournament final. I'm actually pretty proud of our guys."
Ferndale's Kam Williams and Isaac Robison each took second-place finishes and Meridian's James Reedy-Capp also reached the final in his 220 weight class but lost by way of pin fall.
Squalicum didn't have any wrestlers advance to the championship round, but coach Russell Robinson said he was proud of his team's performance, especially of the job Luke Jordan did.
"Luke did really well," Robinson said. He was improving every match. We're progressing pretty well, and we have a good team of fighters."
Reach Andrew Lang at andrew.lang@bellinghamherald.com or call 360-760-2862.
Team Placing
1. Mount Baker 245, 2.Todd Beamer 242, 3. Kentwood 171, 4. Mount Vernon 157.0, 5. Blaine 150, 6. Black Hills 137.5, 7. Sehome 127, 8. Ferndale 122.5, 9. Everett 114, 10. Issaquah 90, 11. Lynden 82, 18. Squalicum 48, 19. Meridian 38.0
Championship Matches
106: Connor Berlin (Kentwood) pin Chris Jenkin (Granite Falls). 113: Brett Dykman (Todd Beamer) dec. Carson Monaghan (Mount Baker) 5-2. 120: Tre Uson (Todd Beamer)pin Mikey Clizbe (Kalama). 126: Ares Carpio (Todd Beamer) dec. Isaac Robison (Ferndale) 17-1. 132: Aron Set-Hiet (Todd Beamer) pin Casey Heaton (Kalama). 138: Jesse Lopez (Everett) dec. Pavel Okara (Mount Vernon) 2-0. 145: Joseph Tonnemaker (Issaquah) dec. Ryan Meggison (Lynden) 4-1. 152: Shaypher Hendricks (Blaine) pin Zach Larson (Mount Baker). 160: Hamilton Noel (Liberty) dec. Jordan Watts (Mount Vernon) 4-0. 170: Connor Boyce (Everett) dec. Dakota Hinton (Sequim). 182: Kristoff Ricketts dec. Dante Gray (Sehome) 13-1 . 195: Matt Borden (Black Hills) pin James Reedy-Capp (Meridian). 220: Caleb Johnson (Blaine) pin Kam Williams (Ferndale). 285: Alec Postlewait (Mount Baker) pin Mike Antczak (Blaine).
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