With four of its five representatives placing, the Oak Harbor High School boys wrestling team finished eighth in the state 3A tournament, one of the best finishes ever by the Wildcats.
Senior Jackson Constant led the charge by placing second in the 285-pound division at Mat Classic XXVII at the Tacoma Dome Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20 and 21.
Oak Harbor scored 66 team points. Enumclaw earned the team title with 110. Arlington was the only Wesco school to place above Oak Harbor, tying for sixth with 76 points.
“Placing as a team is a huge credit to these seniors, who have wrestled together for the last five and six years,” coach Peter Esvelt said. “They came together and wrestled without fear. Both Mark (Johnston) and Christian (Bertram) overcoming adversity, in different forms, Jackson and Jeremy (Vester) both wrestling with the confidence of state champs.”
Senior Vester (138 pounds) improved one spot on his fourth-place finish in 2014 by snagging third.
“Jeremy had, in most estimations, the toughest weight class at state,” Esvelt said. “To be top three in that weight class is amazing. He wrestled great, winning four straight after losing in the quarter finals.”
Senior Johnston (145), who was fourth in the subregional and third at regional, also finished third at state, getting a little revenge by placing ahead of those who stood above him in the qualifying tournaments.
“Mark wrestled the best I have seen him wrestle,” Esvelt said. “He finally started controlling the matches.”
Senior Bertram (120) not only had to fight off his opponents but an illness to place sixth.
“Christian had a bad bug of something,” Esvelt said. “Every match we were game-planning with him for both wrestling and health. On Saturday he put his heart and soul into that first match and didn’t leave anything in the tank for the next two. Healthy, I am confident he was top four, but sixth in his condition is a testament to his desire.”
Senior Tyler Adamson (285) was the tough-luck Wildcat, losing two close matches (3-1 to the eventual seventh-place finisher and 4-2 in overtime).
“Getting two big guys to state was awesome; one in the finals was beyond my expectations,” Esvelt said. “Tyler wrestled great his two matches.
“Jackson pinning his way to the finals was a great surprise. He wrestled his best tournament, with patience and staying in great position.
“His pin in the semis was from a roll from the bottom position, executed perfectly. Then in the finals against someone he had wrestled with since his freshman year, he went out and created motion but got caught in a well- timed single leg.”
The only Wildcat to compete in the girls tournament, junior Amber Cramsey-Behnke (235), couldn’t repeat her magical performance of 2014 when she went from fourth at the regional to third in the state. This year she suffered two losses in three matches and was eliminated.
Cramsey-Behnke “wrestled tough,” according to Esvelt.
Cramsey-Behnke, ranked fifth by the Washington Wrestling report, opened the tournament by losing by a fall to second-ranked KC Moulden of Enumclaw, who went on to win the title.
She then won by a quick pin before losing to seventh-ranked Hailie Parker of Todd Beamer by a second-round fall.
Sixth-ranked Constant recorded three straight pins to reach the finals, including wins over the second- and eighth-ranked wrestlers.
In the finals, facing top-ranked Mosese Fifita of Glacier Peak, Constant lost to his longtime rival by a pin.
Adamson, ranked 11th, fell 3-1 in the opening round to fourth-ranked Alex Neale of Eastside Catholic and then lost 4-2 in overtime to 12th-ranked John Nascimento of Juanita.
Third-ranked Vester started with a 7-3 win over eighth-ranked Connor Thun of Columbia River before losing 9-2 to top-ranked Tino Nieves of Lakes.
He then won four straight, defeating the fourth- and fifth-ranked wrestlers along the way. He topped seventh-ranked Erik Harris-Udall of Shorewood 11-5 in the match for third.
Eighth-ranked Johnston registered two pins to start the tournament, including dropping second-ranked Bryan Wais of North Central in the quarterfinals.
In the semis, Johnston lost 13-6 to fourth-ranked Avery Miller of Bonney Lake.
In the consolation bracket, Johnston defeated third-ranked Bryden Uyehara of Shadle Park, followed by another win over Wais, 3-1, for third.
Seventh-ranked Bertram pinned ninth-ranked Christian Freund of Kelso in the opening bout but lost by a fall to fifth-ranked Yayha Mirzaei of Auburn Mountainview in his second match.
A 10-4 win over Everett’s 10th-ranked Joel Delgadillo set up a 6-4 loss to top-ranked Quinton Southcott of Enumclaw.
In the match for fifth place, Bertram lost by a pin to eighth-ranked Alejandro Ramos of Kennewick.
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At left, Jackson Constant, left, tangles with Mosese Fifita of Glacier Peak in the finals of the 285-pound class. Center, Christian Bertram reacts to a win over third-ranked Drew Alpin of Auburn. Below, Mark Johnston stands on the medal podium with a copy of his weight-class bracket. Photos by John Fisken.
