Wildcat wrestlers capture conference championship

For the first time, Oak Harbor’s girls wrestling team are conference champions.

January 30, 2024 1:30 am
Oak Harbor senior Danielle Kanterman tries to pin her opponent during the Northwest Conference dual meet held Jan. 25 at Oak Harbor High School. She eventually won her match and the Wildcats captured the conference championship. (Photo by John Fisken)
Oak Harbor senior Danielle Kanterman tries to pin her opponent during the Northwest Conference dual meet held Jan. 25 at Oak Harbor High School. She eventually won her match and the Wildcats captured the conference championship. (Photo by John Fisken)

By NATHAN WHALEN

Special to the News-Times

For the first time, Oak Harbor’s girls wrestling team are conference champions.

The team members captured the Northwest Conference title Thursday when they participated in a dual meet comprised of the top four teams in the conference – Oak Harbor, Mount Vernon Sedro-Woolley and Mount Baker.

The Wildcats’ first match of the night saw Oak Harbor topping Mount Vernon 54-28.

“That was a team we lost to early in the season,” Coach Mike Crebbin said.

The finals saw Oak Harbor take on Sedro-Woolley, who got by Mount Baker early in the night. The Wildcats topped Sedro-Woolley 42-36.

“It came down to the last match,” Crebbin said of Olivia Hudson’s win at 235 pounds. “Olivia winning really solidified that for us.”

“It was a really entertaining match between both wrestlers with a lot of back and forth,” Crebbin added.

He also highlighted the efforts of Annabelle Suto, who won both her matches at 140 pounds and Genesis Egli, who earned a victory at 130 pounds against Mount Vernon and a second win at 125 pounds against Sedro-Woolley.

The dual championships took place at Oak Harbor High School. The night served as senior night for the girls wrestling team.

The Wildcats placed second in the Northwest Conference championships in 2023 while the team’s goal won the title this year, Crebbin said.

Oak Harbor followed up their conference championship win with earning first place at the Lady Knights invitational held at Kamiak High School in Mukilteo.

“That is a nice tournament to go to the week before the post-season,” Crebbin said.

Wrestlers are returning from illness or injury and need to get back on the mat to improve their wrestling skills, conditioning and maintain their weight.

Oak Harbor scored 151 points, Shorewood scored 131 points and Yelm scored 107.5 points, according to TrackWrestling.com.

Junior Johanna Cisco placed first at 140 pounds, which marked the first time she placed in a varsity tournament.

“She went out and surprised everyone,” Crebbin said.

Hudson placed first and Lotoaigaola Tupu placed second at 235 pounds while Annabelle Suto placed second at 135 pounds, according to Trackwrestling.com.

Julia Gonzales placed second at 100 pounds, Brianna Richard placed third at 130 pounds and Sophie Erickson placed fifth at 145 pounds.

Placing sixth place in their weight classes were Amber Shaffer at 100 pounds, KaDee Snyder at 120 pounds and Sofia Evans at 125 pounds.

“It was a joint effort for the most part,” Crebbin said.

With the regular season complete, Oak Harbor will host a subregional tournament this weekend against 3A teams from the Northwest Conference and 4A teams from the Wesco and Kingco conferences. The top six teams move on to the regional tournament.

“Our goal is to get everyone from subregional to regional,” Crebbin said.

As of press time, the tournament is scheduled to take place 5 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday.

Oak Harbor High School’s girls wrestling team celebrates winning the Northwest Conference championship Jan. 25. They are preparing to compete in the subregional tournament held this weekend at Oak Harbor High School. (Photo by John Fisken)

Oak Harbor High School’s girls wrestling team celebrates winning the Northwest Conference championship Jan. 25. They are preparing to compete in the subregional tournament held this weekend at Oak Harbor High School. (Photo by John Fisken)