LAKEWOOD — Lakewood High School lost both of its wrestling matches at the double-dual hosted by Marysville-Pilchuck High School.

The traveling Cougars went to M-P’s gymnasium to face off with the M-P Tomahawks, and then the Jackson High School Timberwolves. The Cougars lost 57-22 against M-P, and 42-36 against Jackson.

Lakewood, a 2A team, started with the 3A M-P Tomahawks, which won both of its matches that night, beating Granite Falls High School 42-35 later in the evening.

From the start, M-P worked the Lakewood wrestlers, scoring pins and winning a decision. What made matters worse for Lakewood were the forfeits on their team, which impacted the next game.

“We had three forfeits, injuries and a few grade problems,” Lakewood Head Coach Thomas O’Hara said. “We don’t have as much depth as Marysville.”

Other difficulties Lakewood faced were mismatched age groups and inexperience. “We were outgunned in some matches,” O’Hara said. “We have freshmen and kids who never wrestled before.”

Injuries and forfeits aside, Lakewood experienced some success against M-P when they did wrestle. In the 126-pound weight class, Hunter Olson pinned M-P’s Steven Duong in the first round, and 285-pound Tristan Nelson pinned his opponent in the third round. In the 182-pound weight class, Jeff Harrison pinned M-P’s Hunter Hintze in the second round.

The Cougars got their pin points, but they were not able win any matches by decisions. M-P was able to obtain five pins and a match by decision. M-P also benefited from the three forfeits by Lakewood.

“I thought our guys wrestled really well,” O’Hara said. “We did some things wrong and we did some things right.”

Gage Gilbertson, in the 170-pound weight class, wrestled against M-P’s Killian Page, but was bested by Page’s grappling ability, getting pinned in the second round. “I thought he wrestled a good match,” O’Hara said. “Killian’s such an athlete we couldn’t finish it.”

Although the first match was a loss for Lakewood, O’Hara is not worried for the upcoming season. “It’s the beginning of the season,” O’Hara said. “We’re kicking the dust off still.”

In the next match, Lakewood went against Jackson, a 4A school, but was able to score better.

In the 113-pound weight class, Lakewood’s Tommie Mostellor pinned her opponent 1:26 into the match.

Against the Timberwolves, the Cougars were able to win six of their matches, all by pins, making for a much closer match. Jackson still came out on top, winning the match by securing two pins, two decisions and three forfeits against Lakewood for the 42-35 victory.