BELLINGHAM - Since grade school, Mount Baker wrestler Alec Postlewait has worked every summer to improve his wrestling skills so he could have the chance to be a state champion.
"I just want to step it up (in the postseason)," Postlewait said. "I know it's my last chance to put it all together and get what every high school wrestler dreams of. I feel like I've put in a lot of work, and I hope this is the year that it all comes together."
For Postlewait and the rest of the Class 2A Northwest Conference wrestlers, the road to the Mat Classic started Friday and Saturday, Feb. 3-4 at the Class 2A Sub Regional Wrestling Tournament, at Squalicum High School.
After a long day of grappling Saturday, Mount Baker proved once more why they are the class of the NWC, as the Mountaineers beat second-place Blaine by nearly 100 points and qualified a tournament-best 18 wrestlers, including alternates, for the regional meet Saturday, Feb. 11, at Bellingham High School.
The Mountaineers scored 349 points, Blaine scored 249.5 points, Burlington-Edison finished third with 212 points, Bellingham took fourth with 174 points, Lynden was fifth with 157 points, Sehome finished sixth with 128.5 points, Squalicum took seventh and had 112 points and Anacortes finished the tournament in eighth place with 35 points.
"I thought we performed really well tonight," Mount Baker coach Ron Lepper said. "It was kind of the typical tournament where you have some ups and downs. You always have some surprises, but, yeah, I thought we performed really well. We got results form the guys we expected like Carsen (Monaghan), Zach (Larson) and Alec (Postlewait)."
Postlewait (285) didn't have the typical smooth run through the heavyweight division that NWC wrestlers and coaches have grown accustomed to, however.
In the 285 final, Postlewait met up with Sehome's Titi Lamositele in a rematch of a slugfest-type matchup that resulted in a narrow Postlewait win at the Northwest Conference Tournament.
And the rematch Saturday didn't disappoint, as it was arguably one of the most entertaining matches of the day.
Tied at 2-2 in the third period, Postlewait earned a 2-point takedown with 25 seconds left in the bout just as the two scooted outside of the circle. Lamositele, taking the down position on the reset, made an extremely athletic move to get out of Postlewait's top position for an escape that made the score 4-3 with just seconds left. Lamositele desperately tried to take the Mount Baker senior down, but Postlewait held firm to grab the win.
"He's just very big and athletic," Postlewait said. "He's got what every heavyweight wants to have. For it being his first year wrestling, he's pretty impressive."
Lamositele, who said he decided to wrestle to stay in shape for the other sports he plays, will miss next week's regional meet due to another obligation with the Washington State All-Star rugby team.
"He's a lot more experienced than me," Lamositele said about Postlewait. "I just tried to play it safe and push (the match) to the third."
Besides Lamositele, the Mariners qualified eight wrestlers for the regional meet, highlighted by Dante Gray (182), who took second in his weight class, Carson Eiswald (152), who also took second and Carl Erickson (160), who finished third.
Blaine sent the second most wrestlers through to the regional meet with 15. Kyle Gonzales (106), Justin Belding (138) and Shaypher Hendricks (145) all won their weight classes, while Billy Dodd (106) and Caleb Johnson (195) reached the final but lost to their respective opponents. The tournament win was extra special for Gonzales.
"It feels good to win, because it was my first time getting first at a tournament like this," Gonzales said. "I'm just going to have to work hard this week to be prepared for (the regional meet)."
Bellingham matched Blaine with three first place finishers. Red Raiders Jake Knight (120), Nolan Takemura (126) and Andrew Peterson (132) all won their weight classes. Like Gonzales, Knight's tournament win was his first, as well.
"It's been hard," Knight said. "I've been in finals a few times. It's nice to (get a win) in such a big fashion. I had a tough kid that I wrestled, so I have to give it to him."
Lynden's Jeremy Korthuis (182) and Caleb Newman (220) both won their weight classes and the Lions sent eight wrestlers to the regional meet next Saturday.
Overall, Lynden coach Randy Anderson was pleased with his team's performance.
"You know, I thought they looked good today," Anderson said. "We had 10 guys coming into the day, and we ended up qualifying seven with one alternate. I was really proud of Caleb (Newman), and I thought Ryan Meggison did a good job. I'm excited for both the boys and the girls next week."
Out of all the NWC teams, host Squalicum qualified the fewest wrestlers for the regional meet, but Storm coach Russell Robinson thought it was a solid tournament for such a young group.
Including alternates, the Storm qualified seven wrestlers for the regional meet.
"You know, I thought we did great," Robinson said. "Zach Wilson and Luke Jordan both wrestled tough matches."
All regional qualifiers will now meet up with the best that the Cascade Conference has to offer Saturday, Feb. 11, at Bellingham High School where trips to the Mat Classic will be on the line.
Team scores: 1. Mount Baker 349, 2. Blaine 249.5, 3. Burlington-Edison 212, 4. Bellingham 174, 5. Lynden 157, 6. Sehome 128.5, 7. Squalicum 112, 8. Anacortes 35
Championship matches
106: Kyle Gonzales (Blaine) pin Billy Dodd (Blaine). 113: Carsen Monaghan (Mount Baker) dec. Luke Jordan (Squalicum) 12-2. 120: Jake Knight (Bellingham) dec. Trevor Quint (Burlington-Edison) 7-5. 126: Nolan Takemura (Bellingham) pin Nicky Henderson (Burlington-Edison). 132: Andrew Peterson (Bellingham) injury default Joey Walton (Mount Baker). 138: Justin Belding (Blaine) dec. Zak Alter (Squalicum) 5-0. 145: Shaypher Hendricks (Blaine) dec. Ryan Meggison (Lynden) 19-2. 152: Zach Larson (Mount Baker) dec. Carson Eiswald (Sehome) 12-5. 160: Jerrid George (Mount Baker) dec. Joel Trujillo (Burlington-Edison) 9-3. 170: Levi Wigg (Mount Baker) pin Dylan White (Mount Baker). 182: Jeremy Korthuis (Lynden) disqualification Dante Gray (Sehome). 195: Tyrel Cronk (Mount Baker) pin Caleb Johnson (Blaine). 220: Caleb Newman (Lynden) dec. Sterling Honeycutt (Mount Baker) 3-2. 285: Alec Postlewait (Mount Baker) dec. Titi Lamositele (Sehome) 4-3.
third-fourth place matches
106: Riley Takemura (Bellingham) dec. Calvin Ledet (Mount Baker) 11-2. 113: Zach Wallace (Squalicum) dec. Gage Lott (Blaine) 2-0. 120: Hunter Schenk (Mount Baker) dec. Steven Yazzie (Sehome) 8-4. 126: Tanner Zavala (Burlington-Edison) dec. Nick Iaconetti (Lynden) 6-2 132: Nazar Bezugly (Mount Baker) dec. Nick Granberg (Burlington-Edison) 8-6. 138: Jared Ward (Lynden) dec. Cody Thayer (Mount Baker) 8-2. 145: Patrick Anderson (Bellingham) dec. David Sandstrom (Squalicum) 8-7. 152: Ryan Mouat (Lynden) dec. Jon Stewart (Blaine) 6-1. 160: Carl Erickson (Sehome) dec. Zach Wilson (Squalicum) 10-5. 170: Tanner Foster (Blaine) dec. Klye Brogan (Bellingham) 9-5. 182: Vlas Bezugly (Mount Baker) dec. Frank Gray (Anacortes) 6-3. 195: Jeff Bajema (Burlington-Edison) pin Roger Hathaway (Bellingham). 220: Sean Chase (Blaine) dec. Sheldon Hicks (Blaine) 5-2. 285: Mike Antczak (Blaine) dec. Jake Larsen (Mount Baker) 7-1.
fifth-sixth place matches
106: Hugo Diaz (Burlington-Edison) dec. Zach Daniels (Squalicum) 11-6. 113: E-man Trujillo (Burlington-Edison) dec. Izzy Taft (Sehome) 11-3. 120: Cody Blier (Blaine) pin Sergio Torres (Bellingham). 126: Joe Pratt (Anacortes) dec. Asa Arena (Sehome) 8-3. 132: Evan Villalobos (Sehome) dec. Christian Sharp (Blaine) 3-2. 138: Lane Askvig (Burlington-Edison) pin Andrew Toth (Anacortes). 145: Wes Fleury (Burlington-Edison) dec. Brandon Grandy (Burlington-Edison) 12-9. 152: Harris Rahimi (Lynden) dec. Cooper Stach (Squalicum) 8-3. 160: Trenton Hamidou (Burlington-Edison) dec. Alex Ray (Mount Baker) 10-0. 170: Blaze Seidel (Bellingham) dec. Brandon Visser (Blaine) 15-4. 182: Colton Bogle (Burlington-Edison) pin Israel Hernandez (Blaine). 195: Max Martinson (Mount Baker) dec. Chad DeBoer (Lynden) 6-0. 220: Dylan Hanson (Bellingham) dec. Matt Scoles (Mount Baker). 285: Devon Robins (Sehome) pin Miguel Mendoza (Burlington-Edison).
