Local high schools compete at M-P’s Premier Tournament

Lakewood, Arlington and Marysville-Pilchuck, along with 13 other schools, competed in the Premier Tournament, hosted by M-P on Jan. 18.

MARYSVILLE — Lakewood, Arlington and Marysville-Pilchuck, along with 13 other schools, competed in the Premier Tournament, hosted by M-P on Jan. 18.

The tournament hosted 16 schools from all over with 14 weight classes.

The tournament consisted of a 16-team bracket with wrestlers working their way through it.

The tournament was founded by Arlington Head Coach Rick Iversen and his son, M-P Head Coach Craig Iversen. “I’m really proud to be back in the tournament I started,” Rick Iversen said. “The tournament was created back in the mid-nineties when the [M-P]’s new gym was built.”

“It’s our show to put on,” Craig Iversen said. “It’s a classy tournament.”

Snohomish High School placed first in the tournament with a team score of 177 points.

M-P placed third overall, finishing with a team score of 146 points. “We were very excited about the effort the team gave,” Craig Iversen said. “They seem to be do their best wrestling as we head towards post-season.”

M-P wrestlers who placed included junior Killian Page, who finished first in the 160-pound weight class. “Some of our wrestlers had not been in that level of competition,” Craig Iversen said. “It can be physically and emotionally draining to have a full day of wrestling.”

Other M-P wrestlers that placed were senior John Schrock, who placed third in the 138-pound weight class, and senior Jose Villagomez, who placed fifth in the 145-pound weight class. In the 106-pound weight class, junior Sam Foss took third.

M-P freshman Keith Pablo placed fifth in the 152-pound weight class.

Overall, Arlington placed fifth with a team score of 128.

Arlington Trey Swanson placed first in the 106-pound weight class. “We are tough in the lightweights,” Rick Iversen said.

Arlington’s sophomore Jeremy Nygard placed first in the 113-pound weight and so did sophomore Boston Jones in the 120-pound weight class.

Though Arlington saw success mostly in the lower weight classes, Senior Scott Bardell placed third in the 152 weight class.

Lakewood finished the meet in 12th place with a team score of 63.5. “We held our own,” Lakewood Head Coach Tom O’Hara said about the 2A school’s wrestlers. “We were not intimidated by the bigger schools.”

Lakewood wrestlers that placed high as well, included senior Gage Gilbertson in the 170-pound weight class. In the 182-pound weight class Lakewood senior Jeff Harrison also placed third.

In the 285-pound Lakewood senior Tristen Nelson placed second behind Glacier Peak junior Mosese Fifita.

O’Hara said the main difficulty his team faced was the talent they were pitted against. “There were just a lot of good wrestlers,” he said. “The talent level was really high.”