ALL-WHATCOM COUNTY GIRLS' WRESTLER: Phy a dominant force on mat

Andy Bronson | ANDY BRONSON THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

• All Whatcom County

Phy’s final pin gave Mount Baker a total of 77 points, capping the Mountaineers’ Saturday comeback and giving Mount Baker the team championship by one point over Hoquiam. It also gave Phy a sterling 32-1 season record.

For all that success Phy has been selected The Bellingham Herald’s All-Whatcom County Girls’ Wrestler of the Year.

“It’s obvious she’s the been the best girl we’ve ever had,” Mount Baker coach Ron Lepper said. “I think she finished 69 wins, 68 of them were by pin. She’s worked so hard to create opportunities for herself.”

More than one month after the state tournament, Phy said she’s still appreciative of all she and her teammates accomplished.

“I can’t believe it’s over,” said Phy, who left early Thursday morning for several days of wrestling at the United States Girls’ Wrestling Association National Championships in Michigan. “It was a great year, probably one of my best years, team-wise. We got to go to a lot more tournaments, and the sport is growing a lot more.”

Asked to describe winning the team title, Phy was emphatic and quick to share the credit.

“It was really good; all of our girls definitely got a lot of points for us to get the team title,” Phy said. “We were winning the first day, then we came back the next day when Hoquiam was up by a couple of points.

“Then finally I won, so it was neck-and-neck the whole time between our girls and their girls. We were all (cheering) against them when they were wrestling, and they were doing the same for us.”

“Her finals match in Tacoma, for the team to win the title and her to win her second championship, she was the right girl at the right time for her and for us,” Lepper said.

Though winning the state title was a huge accomplishment, it wasn’t the only one in a season that saw girls’ high school wrestling begin to take a foothold in Whatcom County.

Among the highlights was the first-ever girls’ dual meet in Whatcom County, when the Mountaineers defeated Burlington-Edison before a near-packed house at Deming. Phy remembers being affected by the huge crowd and how fans, students and friends were part of the mix.

“We really got a lot of support from the community once we started getting it going,” Phy said.

That the program was so successful so quickly may have been surprising from a observer’s viewpoint. But Phy said she and her teammates were putting in the hours and the effort, and there was no playing favorites — the Baker girls work out alongside the boys.

“We practice with the guys, so we get just as much (work) as they do,” Phy said. “We kind of knew what was going to be going on, so we definitely helped each other out by getting ready for tournaments and stuff.”

During her sophomore year, Phy could count her teammates on one hand. That, too, changed this past season, as the Mountaineers usually fielded a full team, with the help of some new faces.

“We had a pretty big team; lots of teammates,” Phy said. “The new teammates? We definitely got on them quite a few times, to let them know how it works.”

Craig Parrish can be reached at craig.parrish@bellinghamherald.com or 715-2279.