Whidbey Wildcats 21st at state tournament

More than 370 wrestlers representing 30 clubs from around the state packed the gymnasium at Oak Harbor High School Saturday, May 9, as the Whidbey Wildcat Youth Wrestling Club hosted the annual Washington state Kids Freestyle Tournament.

May 12, 2009 4:32 pm
Ty Eck takes a break in an early bout and rests an elbow on the neck of his opponent
Ty Eck takes a break in an early bout and rests an elbow on the neck of his opponent

Roy captures 40-pound bantam title

By TIM ADAMS

Sports editor

More than 370 wrestlers representing 30 clubs from around the state packed the gymnasium at Oak Harbor High School Saturday, May 9, as the Whidbey Wildcat Youth Wrestling Club hosted the annual Washington state Kids Freestyle Tournament.

Action at the tournament was fast and furious with 10 mats in operation at the same time, and 650 matches being wrestled.

The team championship was won by Reality Sports Wrestling Club from Puyallup with a score of 76 points.

The USA Everett Wrestling Club was a close second with 74 points and the Korum YMCA Mustangs from Tacoma/Pierce County tallied 72 points to finish third.

In their final match of the season, the 16-member Whidbey Wildcat team finished in 21st place.

Individually, there were some hard-fought matches by the Wildcats.

Wrestling in the 40-pound bantam division, William Roy earned himself a gold medal winning the championship.

Other Wildcats doing an excellent job were Kyler Lamb, who won the bronze medal for his third-place finish in the 112-pound intermediate division, and Trevor Watkins who placed fifth in the 85-pound novice weight class.

Also placing fifth was Jeremy Alonzo in the 152-pound schoolboy/schoolgirl division.

Kaden Charlsworth finished sixth in the 70-pound novice division and the Eck brothers, Ty and Gabriel, completed the Wildcat scorecard finishing eighth in the 65 and 70-pound intermediate weight classes, respectively.

Tournament Director Rick Fakkema thanked the community for its support.

“The Oak Harbor community support was outstanding. It takes a lot of input from a lot of different people and sources to make a tournament of this scale a success,” he said.

Community support came from the Chamber of Commerce, the Elks Club, the Coachman Inn, Jim Ducken, Charis Waldron, Bob Zimmerman, the OHHS athletic department and the Oak Harbor and North Whidbey middle school wrestling programs.

“We also appreciate the help from the Navy community and the Oak Harbor High School NJROTC students who presented the colors and stepped up to help our club do an awesome job,” Fakkema said.

For more information on the youth wrestling program, visit the club’s Web site at www.leaguelineup.com/whidbey.