Community Sports

Sports Beat | Peninsula girls wrestling looking for back-to-back state titles

The Peninsula Seahawks girls wrestling team looks more than ready to defend the state championship they won at the 2024 Mat Classic tournament.

The Seahawks opened the season with a 66-12 win over North Thurston in Lacey on Dec. 10.

Peninsula lost only one match during the contest. The Seahawks forfeited another match, at 140 pounds, to give the Rams their 12 points.

But other than that it was all Seahawks, with quick victories and raised hands as the team turned in an impressive performance.

The Lady Seahawks resembled a wrecking machine at a junk yard, smashing, compacting and pinning one opponent after another. They racked up nine pins in 10 matches, with six of those coming within the first two minutes.

Peninsula’s lineup is filled with skilled and determined wrestlers who attack from the opening whistle and offer little mercy until the match is over. They are quick to show respect to their opponents and offer post-match handshakes, but they are not on the mat to play around. Their goal is to win back-to-back state championships.

Individual winners against the Rams were Georgina Johnson (105 pounds), Olivia Griffin (115), Brianna Sanderson (125), Lily Robles (130), Lyla Klingler (135), Ava Miranda (145) and Mira Sonnen (155), Lyndsey Shipp (170), Clara Casey (190) and Mya Robles (100). Lee Ramirez (110) won by forfeit.

Peninsula’s Mira Sonnen leaps into the arms of a coach after her win over Graham-Kaposin’s Flor Parker-Borreroin in their 140-pound championship bout at Mat Classic on Friday, Feb. 17, 2024. Photo by Meegan M. Reid/Kitsap Sun

The Seahawks return two individual state champions: senior Sonnen (140), who won her state title by pin in 1:30; and junior Bailey Parker (145), who won her state title by pin 11 seconds faster than Sonnen.

Only one wrestler graduated off the 2024 championship team. Sonnen is confident they can win consecutive titles.

“I absolutely think so,” she said. “In the two years that this program has been popular and doing well, we’ve only been growing stronger.”

Peninsula’s Bailey Parker won a state championship on Feb. 17. Photo by Meegan M. Reid/Kitsap Sun

Peninsula boys wrestling wins via tie-breaker

The Seahawks boys wrestling team wasn’t as dominant as the girls, but several Peninsula wrestlers looked strong against North Thurston. The Seahawks defeated the Rams 38-37 on the same evening, Dec. 10.

The two teams exchanged the lead through the dual meet. In the end Seahawks coach Gary Griffin went to his wrestling bag and pulled out a rule book to help his team to victory.

The match opened with the big boys. Peninsula 285-pounder Yashua Fonotii locked up with his opponent in the center of the mat and controlled him with slow but powerful movements. After Fonotii neutralized the Ram and somewhat lulled him into thinking he was safe, Fonotii exploded to throw his opponent on the mat and quickly pounced on his chest.

With more than 285 pounds laying on you, wrestlers usually don’t squirm away with a fancy reversal or kick out. Fonotii pinned his opponent near the end of the opening round to earn the win and a 6-0 lead for the Seahawks.

The Seahawks were down 21-19 before David Howard (150) and Nemo Grandorff (157) both pinned their opponents to take a 31-21 lead. Teams earn six points for pins.

Seahawk Mathis Csepin (175) then rag dolled his opponent before pinning him quickly in the first period to help Peninsula take a 37-25 lead with only two more matches to go.

North Thurston needed successive pins at 190 and 215 pounds to salvage a tie. They got them to tie the match at 37 as their home fans roared.

Wrestling matches don’t often tie. Coaches and referee huddled and scanned the book to see which team had the most pins, the first tiebreaker. Both teams had four.

As the referee literally scratched his head and wondered what to do next, Seahawks coach Gary Griffin knew that the second tie-break criteria was the team with the least amount of unsportsmanlike penalties. A Ram was assessed a penalty at 165 pounds when he won but took off his straps (top of his uniform) on the mat.

Griffin pulled out a rule book to show the referee and the Ram coach the rule. That resulted in a handshake between coaches and a 38-37 win for the Seahawks.

Other winners for Peninsula included Ben Griffin (105) and Bryce Tillman (132), who manhandled his opponent with a first-period pin.

The Seahawks will be back in action Saturday, Dec. 14, at the A-Town Throwdown at Arlington High School. Ten high schools will compete in the tournament.

Peninsula girls basketball 3-0

The Peninsula girls basketball team is 3-0 under first-year head coach Nelson Garbutt.

The Seahawks’ wins include a couple of nail-biters and an absolute blowout. Led by the uber-talented Grace Richardson, Peninsula got past Puget Sound League rivals Silas (2-2) 28-27 on Dec. 3 and Lincoln (0-3) 47-43 on Dec. 5.

Peninsula then thumped Mount Tahoma, 70-9, at home on Dec. 9. No, that’s not a misprint, the Seahawks won by 61 points.

Peninsula played at perennial conference power North Thurston on Friday, Dec. 13. The Rams defeated Mount Tahoma 93-4.

Gig Harbor girls start 4-1

The Gig Harbor girls (4-1) started off with victories over Bremerton, 58-21, on Dec. 2 and opened league play with a win over Central Kitsap, 45-35.

They then rebounded from a lopsided loss to the aforementioned Rams by beating Capital, 61-10, on Dec. 9 and Lakes, 51-40, on Dec. 11.

Coach Tim Olsen said his team has won thanks to their defensive effort and rebounding. He said Finley Wyman, Anika Jones, Beverly Dover and Willow Bonnici have been “all over the rebounds.”

On the other side of the court, junior Kaliyah Miller leads the Tides in scoring while Bonicci and Dover have contributed double-doubles. Sophomore guard Ashlyn Peirce leads the team in assists and steals.

Gig Harbor faced Lincoln on Friday the 13th.

Beverley Dover of Gig Harbor shoots during the Tides’ 58-21 win over Bremerton. Photo courtesy of Gig Harbor girls basketball

Peninsula’s Higgins an All American

Peninsula’s Elektra Higgins finished 13th in the nation at the Nike Cross Nationals on Dec. 9, a meet in Portland that is effectively the high school national championship. Her finish earned her the title of All American.

I do not have all the historical facts but I would guess that there have not been more than a handful of high school All Americans from this area in the last 75 years.

Higgins finished second in the Class 3A state championships this fall and braved soggy conditions to finish in front of 41 other high school state champions in Portland. She will run for Southern Methodist University next fall.