Community Sports

Three Peninsula wrestlers win individual titles, while Seahawks fall just short of team championship

The Peninsula Seahawks girls wrestling team came oh, so close to back-to-back state championships.

The Seahawks had to settle for second place in the 3A classification. Peninsula’s 210 points were just 7.5 points behind state champion Kelso’s total at Mat Classic XXXVI in the Tacoma Dome on Feb. 20 and 21.

Three Seahawks won individual state championships: Senior Mira Sonnen (145 pounds), junior Bailey Parker (155) and junior Lindsey Shipp (170). It was the second consecutive state title for both Sonnen and Parker.

Peninsula junior Georgina Johnson (100) won four consecutive Mat Classic matches to advance to the the state finals. She finished second.

Peninsula wrestlers who earned medals at state include, from left, Justus Johnson, Lily Robles, Ava Miranda, Lindsey Shipp, Mira Sonnen, Bailey Parker, Georgina Johnson and Mya Robles. Photo courtesy Peninsula wrestling

Peninsula’s Shipp sails to a title

Shipp won her title with an upset victory over Jaylee Lopez from Kennewick, who had a 37-4 record on the season. Shipp pinned her with just two seconds to go in a match she trailed by four points.

She earned her state title by executing a move called a “dresser dump.” That’s when a wrestler flips an opponent from their feet to their back for a pin.

The dresser dump is popular with the Seahawks, who refer to as a milkshake move. The coach in the corner owes the wrestler a milkshake if they pull it off. Shipp deserves a lifetime of milkshakes from Dairy Queen for using the dresser dump for a state title.

“This is crazy, I never thought I’d make it this far,” Shipp said. “I knew with 20 seconds to go, I needed to make a move and we practice the dresser dump a lot. When I pulled it off, it was pretty amazing.”

Teammate Sonnen said of Shipp: “I can’t begin to tell you how excited I was to see Lindsey win it on that move. Her opponent was wearing down and Lindsey powered through to win it all.”

Parker overcomes flu to win championship

The only thing better than winning a state title in high school is winning two of them and that’s exactly what Parker and Sonnen did. They ran roughshod through their brackets.

Parker won despite battling the flu that has been sweeping the region lately. She used her strength to pick up competitors before throwing them back to the ground and pouncing on them. When she gets top position, she usually finishes.

She pinned her first opponent in 23 seconds, the next in 31 seconds, the following in 52 seconds and a semifinal opponent in 1:08. Jillian Hradec of Snohomish, who was 47-2, finally gave Parker a match in the final.

Bailey Parker of Peninsula, shown in a match last year. Photo courtesy Peninsula High wrestling

With her flu symptoms worsening, Parker and Hradec were tied 4-4 in the third period. But with adrenaline pumping, Parker put the flu out of her mind and got a pin at 1:35 of the third period to win her second state title.

Combined, that’s 8 minutes and 48 seconds of work versus five top-level performers, winning all matches by pin. Parker has a chance to three-peat next year to raise the bar even higher.

“Winning it again is so great, it’s hard to describe the feeling,” she said. “It’s pretty cool especially having three girls this year win it all, it’s just really been an amazing experience.”

Sonnen scarcely challenged en route to title

Sonnen is just as good at 145 pounds and also won her second 3A state championship in a row with a dominating run through the tournament. She is technical and athletically gifted and it shows on the mat. The senior pinned her first three opponents and won by major decision, 13-2, in her fourth-round match against Ava Risner of Kelso.

Sonnen then won her second state title by controlling the finals match against Josephine Ives of Bellevue in a 7-0 win. Sonnen allowed only two points to be scored against her in the final two matches.

Anytime a high school athlete wins an individual state title and returns the following year a lot of pressure builds around campus. People expect another title. But Parker and Sonnen handled expectations and took care of business when it mattered most.

Mira Sonnen of Peninsula won her second Mat Classic state wrestling championship. Photo courtesy Margaret Sonnen

When asked if it was more relief than joy to win their second titles Parker said, “definitely joy for me but yes it pushes you with more expectations. It’s different for different people but for me it helped to push me harder to do it again.”

Sonnen said, “To win it all again is very exciting but even more it was satisfying to put a cap on it all.” When asked about joy or relief Sonnen said, “I would say joy but the pressure was definitely there. But after winning it all as a junior it’s a honor to have the pressure to not finish second at state.”

Gig Harbor’s Nimrick fifth

Senior Ava Miranda finished fourth at 135 pounds and junior Justus Johnson was seventh at 120. Lily Robles, a promising freshman, lost her first match but battled back in the consolation rounds to finish seventh at 115 pounds. Her sister Mya Robles, a sophomore, was seventh at 100 pounds.

Sonnen believes Peninsula probably would have repeated as team champions had 105-pounder Olivia Griffin not suffered a major knee injury before the event. “Her knee is so injured that she’s scheduled for surgery this week but she went out there anyway and gave our team absolutely everything she had for us, in a really gutty performance.”

Gig Harbor junior Ella Nimrick made a run to the quarterfinals in the 105-pound weight class. She then won twice in the consolation bracket to finish fifth.

One the boys side, Peninsula junior Nehemiah Grandorff advanced to the 144-pound quarterfinals before losing by fall against Mercer Island’s Gordon Gibson. Grandorff won two more consolation rounds losing to Gibson again and finishing sixth.

Gig Harbor senior Liam McDermott also advanced to the quarterfinals in the 138-pound weight class before dropping two straight matches — the last after battling a Shadle Park wrestler to a tie through three rounds before losing in sudden death, meaning the first wrestler to score is the winner.

Two titles, two records for Gig Harbor’s Hammer

Up Interstate 5 at the state swimming and diving championships in Federal Way, Aiden Hammer of Gig Harbor won two state titles and broke two state records — in the 200-meter freestyle and the 500-meter freestyle. Hammer, a junior, found few competitors to give him much of a challenge during the meet at the King County Aquatic Center on Feb. 21 and 22.

Hammer shattered the 200 freestyle record previously held by Nathan Adrian of Bremerton in the prelims. Hammer’s time of 1:35.85 bested Adrian’s 1:37.17.

Adrian went on to win five Olympic gold medals.

Aiden Hammer of Gig Harbor gives a “Hook ‘Em Horns” sign after setting a state record in the 200 yard freestyle. Photo courtesy Mike Kelly

When Hammer saw the 200 time on the scoreboard in the prelims to beat Adrian’s record, he flashed the “Hook ‘Em Horns” sign of the top-ranked University of Texas Longhorns. He accepted a scholarship offer from the school last month and will study to be an engineer.

Hammer set another state record in the 500 freestyle, eclipsing his own mark set a month ago with a ridiculous 4:19.95. He won the swimmer of the meet award that was presented to the best swimmer in all classifications.

Four state championships in two years

Hammer seemed most excited with the Tides’ new school record of 1:28.28 in the 200 freestyle relay. The Tides finished sixth in the event.

“That was so nice to get that record with the boys, being teammates with these guys has been just great. A lot of times you’re racing for yourself but this was about the guys and Gig Harbor High School.”

Video by Gina Hammer

Hammer now has four state championships in two years of competition. He took his sophomore year off from high school swimming to train for the Olympic trials.

The Tides finished sixth overall in the team competition with the school’s best-ever point total at the state championships.

Hammer credited longtime Tide head coach Mike Kelly.

“He has been such a great coach, I couldn’t have asked for a better high school coach,” Hammer said. “The amount of talent that has come out of Gig Harbor is amazing and I don’t think another coach has developed as many quality swimmers as he has.”

“In his short tenure with the Tides, Aiden definitely has secured his spot as perhaps the best Tide swimmer in history,” Kelly said. “He has amazing focus, which helps to drive his efforts in becoming the best he can be.”

Peninsula’s Bergerson wins two medals

Jonah Bergerson of Peninsula finished second in the 100-yard butterfly with a 49.77. Wearing probably the coolest swimming shorts ever — with flames of orange and red starting above the knee — Bergerson appeared to set the water on fire.

Bergerson, who only got serious about swimming as a ninth grader, showed considerable improvement over the years. He was within a second and a half of being the best in the state in both the butterfly and the backstroke.

He finished third in the 100-yard backstroke finals in 51.23. Freshman Charlie Cancelmo of Lakeside won both the butterfly and backstroke.

“This feels great,” Bergerson said. “This was my first time competing in the 100 yard butterfly at the state meet. I went in thinking I had a possibility of getting into the top three but to hit that wall feeling strong and seeing that second place on the board was amazing.”

Jonah Bergerson won a second-place medal in the butterfly and a third-place medal in the backstroke. Photo coutesy Athena Petterson

Bergerson credited his underwater dolphin kicks and the Olympic-caliber pool at the King County Aquatic Center as the reason for his best time in the 100 butterfly and was really happy with his third-place finish in the backstroke.

Other local standouts

He accepted a scholarship to the University of Pacific in Stockton, California, and will begin training with the team in August.  Bergerson credits his parents and his Seahawk coach Athena Petterson for improving his skills and his work ethic.

“When she (Petterson) was brought in as coach I didn’t know her at all. But she really improved my work ethic and without her there is no way I would have won all the medals I have at the state finals,” he said. “And then my parents deserve a lot of credit, they have been behind me on the hard days when I didn’t want to go to practice and have been such great supporters of me.”

Other local standouts:

• Gig Harbor junior Max Ferrier finished fifth and Peninsula junior Zachary Ruckle finished eighth in the diving competition.
• The Gig Harbor 200-yard freestyle relay team finished sixth with that school-record time of 1:28.28. The team included Hammer, Travis Scott, Jace Garre, and Michael Yevstifieiev.
• The same four Tides swimmers took fifth in the 500 freestyle relay. The Seahawk foursome of seniors Bergerson, Tyler Givot, Aidan Miller and freshman Owen Moore finished eighth in the 200 yard medley relay.