Sixth tournament victory

for the Spartans

By Pierre LaBossiere

Olympic Peninsula News Group

RAINIER — For the sixth time this season, the Forks boys wrestling team has taken first place in a major tournament.

This weekend, the Spartans took first in the prestigious Sgt. Justin Norton Memorial tournament, featuring 17 teams from western Washington.

Forks got three first-place individual finishes, four third places, a fourth, a fifth and two sixths, placing 11 wrestlers in 10 different weight divisions.

The Spartans ended with 220 team points, with Mount Baker at 201.5. Naches Valley was third at 165.

Winning their weight divisions were Conner Demorest at 126 pounds, Nate Dahlgren at 182 pounds and Sloan Tumaua at 220. Demorest won with four straight pins, while Dahlgren had two pins and won his championship match with an 11-2 major decision. Tumaua won with a technical fall, a pin, a 13-3 major decision and a pin 40 seconds into the championship match.

Finishing third were Abraham Montealegre at 106 pounds with three pins and one loss, Jesus Garcia Domanguez at 113 pounds with four straight wins after losing his opening match, Walker Wheeler at 145 pounds with three wins and a loss and Kaleb Blanton at 152 pounds with five wins and one loss.

Finishing fourth was Braden Camacho at 120 pounds, while Walker Rondeau finished fifth at 132.

Coming in sixth were Adrian Sanchez at 152 pounds and Mason Leinan at 170.

Forks won the Sgt. Justin Norton Memorial in 2021 and 2018. So far this season, the Spartans have won their own home invitational, the Rainier Dual tournament, The Rock on Vashon Island, the Battle of the Axe in Port Angeles, the Tony Saldivar Ironman in Granger and the Sgt. Justin Norton.

Forks next hosts a wrestling “mixer” meet with seven other schools at 5 p.m. Wednesday.