The biggest girl’s wrestling scramble so far this year included 18 schools, and was set to start at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 9. After a delay, the first whistle at Issaquah high school blew at 6:56 p.m. “I would say tonight was a little unorganized, but still fun. It was good to get so much competition,” a ref said.
“I’m excited that the girls have an opportunity to wrestle tonight. Sometimes it takes a little while to make sure we’ve got good matchups,” coach Gere said, “I’m staying positive.”
Despite the delay, Glacier Peak started off the night with a win. Freshman Cameron Erdmann pinned a wrestler from Edmonds high school in her first match. Erdmann went 1-1 on the night, later losing during a sudden-death overtime. “I did okay. I could have been more aggressive and taken more shots,” Erdmann said.
The night continued and GP suffered a few losses before wins began to pour in again. Seniors Karianne Baldwin and Bobbi Jack both had perfect nights, working to hone their skills for the postseason. “I think I did good because I was able to do some new moves and practice the new moves in my matches. I’m looking forward to our Othello tournament and I’m looking forward to going to state one last time with my team,” Baldwin said.
At the end of Jack’s match, she pinned a wrestler from Renton high school while the other wrestler was out of bounds. Jack had both her knee and foot still in the circle on the mat. The ref called her pin, but the Renton coach voiced his disagreement. “There was a rule change this year, and the rule lacks some clarity…. There’s a process, and what we do is you basically have a committee that comes together, and that ref decided to consult with two other refs and the other two refs agreed that she did meet the pin criteria and they also reached out to their lead official for the area, and he also concurred that Bobbi met criteria for the pin,” Gere said.
The leader in wins was Ellie Shreave who won three matches on the night. She was able to wrestle a third match because of an unexpected bracket complication. “I think I did really good. I wrestled some really great matches…. Starting out the season, honestly, I was not in a very good place, but coach really helped me get out of that place and I was able to be more confident with my wrestling and I’m wrestling better matches and I’m getting tougher,” Shreave said.
At the end of the night, Glacier Peak was 10-10. The last whistle was called at 9:30 p.m. when Eleanor Schindele pinned her opponent from Hazen high school; making it Schindele’s second pin of the night.
Wrestlers continue to work hard as the season carries on, improving their technique and outlook on the sport. “My progression has been really good. I have been staying after practice, asking my coach more questions, pushing myself harder in the mat room, asking for more time and opportunities to wrestle. Overall, I’ve just had a better mindset this season,” Jack said.