Class 4A state competition in swimming and wrestling, district and basketball begins this week, and Oak Harbor High School has strong representation in all three sports.
In the pool at Marysville-Pilchuck Thursday and Friday, the Oak Harbor boys swim team qualified one new competitor, Yale Rosen, for the state championships, in addition to three other individuals and a relay team that had recorded qualification times in regular season meets.
Coming out of the wrestling regional tournament in Snohomish, Oak Harbor has two state qualifiers and an alternate ready to hit the Tacoma Dome mat.
Finally, the “Boston Three Party,” Jessica Denmon, Jennifer Jansen and Nicole Mowbray, as they call themselves, lead the Wildcat basketball team into what has become almost a tradition in the WesCo League — an opening round district matchup against Jackson.
Three grapplers compete in Tacoma
Sophomore Connar Zimmerman in the 125-pound weight class and junior Colton Elliot, along with senior John Tuttle are headed to the Tacoma Dome this weekend for the Mat Classic, the Class 4A championship wrestling meet.
At the regional tournament Friday and Saturday at Snohomish, Zimmerman was a fourth-place finisher and Elliott finished in fifth-place at 130 pounds.
Tuttle lost in the fifth/sixth-place match at 140 pounds, but will be headed to the tournament as an alternate.
The top five wrestlers in each weight class qualify for the state tournament with the sixth-place finishers going as alternates.
Team-wise, the Wildcats finished in 11th place among the 23 teams entered in the competition, scoring 58 points.
Lake Stevens won the event scoring 260.50 points and qualifying 13 wrestlers.
Snohomish with 162 points placed second and Auburn finished third with 147 points.
Swimmers place fourth in district
Paced by senior John Hu who scored victories in the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly, the Wildcats scored 347 points to finish fourth in the 12-team 4A District 1 championships.
Kamiak won the meet with 562 points, followed by Shorewood and Marysville-Pilchuck that scored 441 and 385 points, respectively.
Hu had previously established state qualification times in all individual events during regular season meets, and is the defending Class 4a champion in the 200 individual medley.
The sweetest victory of the district championships for Hu came 100 butterfly when he trailed Ali Abadi from Edmonds-Woodway as the two swimmers approached the wall. Hu made a push in the final few yards, took an extra stroke and finished in a tie with Abadi at 52.82.
Also headed to the state meet is Tyler Schell, who had recorded state times in the 200 and 500 freestyles, and is a member of the 200 medley relay team along with Hu, Rosen and Price Hu.
Oak Harbor coach Amy Nurvic said she expected Rosen to qualify in the 100 breaststroke and the sophomore came through with a time of 1:03.43 to join his teammates at the King County Aquatic Center for the state championship meet.
Cats will get tested by Jackson tonight
Coming off a heartbreaking 42-40 loss to Marysville-Pilchuck Feb. 12 resulting in a fourth-place finish in the WesCo North, Oak Harbor has a 7:30 appointment tonight in Mill Creek with Jackson.
Jackson finished in a tie with Edmonds-Woodway at 15-3 for the top spot in the WesCo South, but claimed the number one seed with a better record against common opponents.
Last season, Oak Harbor lost 55-53 in the opening round and absorbed a 57-43 defeat in 2007.
Coach Brett McLeod and the Wildcats are hoping that the third meeting will be the charm.
