Over this past weekend on Feb. 17 and 18, we had six boys and four girls compete for Washington State champion titles. Out of the 10 wrestlers we had four that placed. Senior Parker Lastala got sixth place for the 3A/4A 125 weight class, and in the same weight class, junior Karianne Baldwin got first, taking home her second state champion title. Next, we had junior Gil Mossberg get second in the 4A 145 weight class. Then finally we had sophomore Connor Aney taking home his first state title in the 4A 285 weight class. “When looking back at my freshmen self, I would tell myself that everything I would work hard for would pay off in then and I would do better than I ever thought I would do,” Lastala said.

For Karianne going in she had a huge target as she went undefeated this season, winning all 50 matches and she was the reigning state champ.  “I felt nervous and excited at the same time, I knew I could do it, but I was nervous because I knew people were looking at me because they knew who I was,” Baldwin said.

Going into next year if Baldwin won state again, she would become the first wrestler to bring home three state championship titles. Also, the girls wrestling team became the first team to win back-to-back academic state championships. Now for the boys’ team they had two out of six wrestlers placed. For both of the boys they had high expectations. “Last year I placed third in the tournament and this year I went in with the goal of winning, but I took home second. But I’ll keep practicing and working hard in the off season and maybe win next year,” Mossberg said.

The final person who placed was Connor Aney and going into the tournament he was ranked first in 4A and second overall. He finished by taking home a state championship title as a sophomore. “Going in I felt good and confident and when I finished, I felt like all the stress went away, but I also still knew that I had stuff to improve on. I’ll keep training in the off season and going to the weight room and hopefully by doing that I can take home two more state titles in my high school career,” Aney said.