by Pierre LaBossiere
TACOMA — For the first time ever, both the Forks boys and the girls wrestling squads finished in the top 10 at the Mat Classic at the Tacoma Dome, with Abraham Montealegre as the Spartans’ latest in a long line of individual state champions.
The Forks boys placed three wrestlers and finished sixth with 123 points among 1B/2B schools. Tonasket won the state 1B/2B championship with 276.5 points. The Forks girls placed two wrestlers and finished eighth with 85 points. The girls 1B/2B championship was won by Granger with 184 points.
Montealegre went into the Mat Classic with an outstanding record of 26-2, mostly at 113 pounds. A previous state champion, Rodger Cate of Lake Roosevelt, was in Montealegre’s weight class and entered the Mat Classic with a record of 28-3.
Montealegre won his opening match with a pin in the first round over Lucas Santos of Columbia Burbank, won his quarterfinal with a 12-0 major decision over Luis Veduzco of Tonasket and won his semifinal with a third-round pin over Anthony Torres of Granger.
His match with Cate went into the third round, where Montealegre won with a pin.
Also having a solid Mat Classic was Dominick Sanchez, who finished third at 106 pounds. Sanchez won his first two matches with pins, then lost in the semifinal to Miguel Depaz of Tonasket by a close 13-10 decision.
Sanchez then won his consolation semifinal with a second-round pin over Jack Steffler of Lake Roosevelt, then won the consolation final for third place with a quick first-round pin over Dominic Deleon Castaneda of Granger.
Also placing for Forks was Kenneth Daman, who came in fifth at 285 pounds, going 5-2 over the weekend. He earned his fifth-place medal with a pin in the first round against Ryder Jared of Asotin.
For the Forks girls, Peyton Johnson made it to the championship match at 120 pounds and finishing second. She made it to the finals with a pin over Mikaya Angelovich of Willapa Valley, a pin over Izzy Kilpatrick of Klahowya, and a 9-2 decision over Victoria Black of Cashmere. In the finals, Kadence Neumeyer of Castle Rock won with a second-round pin.
Jade Blair also finished third at 125 pounds. She won two matches, then lost her third-round match to send her into the consolation bracket. In the consolation semis, she won with a pin of Daira Francisco of Zillah in the first 14 seconds, then beat Kimberly Madrigal of Granger in the consolation finals with a pin in 43 seconds.
These Forks wrestlers did not place but won enough matches to earn points for their team: Braden Camacho-Roldan, 126 pounds, eight points; Adrian Sanchez, 150 pounds, seven points; Landon Thomas, 138 pounds, six points; Simeone Jackson-Cruz, 132 pounds, Jon Parker Jr., 175 pounds, four points; Royer Pablo, 106 pounds; Bryan Lucas, 113 pounds; Orlando Camacho, 120 pounds; Samuel Lopez Rivera, 120 pounds; Luis Ornelas, 157 pounds, three points.
These Forks girls did not place but earned points: Lillianna Galeana, 110 pounds, 11 points; Kinley Rondeau, 100 pounds; LaRayne Blair, 130 pounds; Riley Tjepkema, 135 pounds, six points; Flora Horejsi, 105 pounds, five points.
