It’s going to be a wild weekend in Washington State high school sports as swimming, wrestling and gymnastics all wrap up for the winter, leaving only the basketball regional and state tournaments left beyond Sunday.
With so many events going on, here is a quick guide to everything happening so you can follow your local high school’s teams.
Basketball districts
North Kitsap and Olympic are the final two local boys teams standing in the district tournament, and each will have a different path to regionals.
Olympic will have to win three elimination games over the next four days, starting at 6 p.m. tonight, Feb. 14, against Sequim at Wilson High School. A win there sends the Trojans to the semifinals and a matchup with either Highline or Franklin Pierce. That game takes place at 7:45 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 16 at Bellarmine Prep. A win there and Olympic advances to the fifth place game at noon on Feb. 17 at Washington High School.
The Vikings have clinched their place at regionals, but are still playing for seeding. They play next on Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. at Wilson against Renton in the semifinals. If North Kitsap wins, they will face the winner of the Foss-Fife matchup in the other semifinal at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 2 p.m. at Wilson. If they lose, they play the loser of the same matchup on at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17, at Washington.
On the girls side, two teams still remain — North Kitsap and Kingston.
The North Kitsap girls have also sewn up a spot at regionals, but important games still lie ahead, including a matchup at 6 p.m. tonight, Feb. 14, at Bellarmine Prep, with Port Angeles. The Vikings lost to the Roughriders twice in the span on five days earlier this month, including a tie-breaker for the league championship, so they may be a little revenge-minded in this one.
A win tonight puts North Kitsap in the first place game at 4 p.m. on Feb. 17 at Wilson against either Fife or White River. A loss means a 5:30 p.m. game on Feb. 17 at Washington.
After losing a game to the top seed, White River, the Buccaneers downed River Ridge last night, Feb. 13, 45-39, advancing them to the semifinals on the left side of the bracket. Their next game is against Eatonville at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15 at Curtis High School. With a win, Kingston would then have to go through Renton or Foster to advance to the regional tournament.
The regional tournament begins on Feb. 23. Times and locations are still to be determined.
Swimming
The WIAA state swim meets will take place over the course of two days, Feb. 16-17 at King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way. Preliminary races will take place on Feb. 16 and the finals are set for Feb. 17. The schedule is as follows:
Friday, Feb. 16:
3A prelims, 9:45 a.m. (Central Kitsap)
4A prelims, 2 p.m.
2A prelims, 6:30 p.m. (Kingston, North Kitsap, Olympic, Klahowya, Bremerton)
Saturday, Feb. 17:
3A finals, 9:25 a.m.
4A finals, 2:20 p.m.
2A finals, 7:10 p.m.
All eyes will be on Kingston, which is looking to defend its 2A state championship title from last season, and its 200 yard medley relay team, which has a seed time of 1:36.80, faster than the 2A state meet record. The 200 and 400 yard freestyle relay teams are also seeded No. 1.
Individually, Tim Gallagher is seeded No. 1 in the 200 yard individual medley and and No. 2 in the 100 backstroke. Ethan Fox is No. 2 in both the 200 yard IM and the 100 yard freestyle; Aron Markow holds the No. 2 seed in the 100 breaststroke
But Kitsap County will be well represented as North Kitsap, Olympic, Bremerton and Klahowya will all be represented in the 2A meet and Central Kitsap will have swimmers in the 3A meet.
Nathan Ramey is expected to finish high in the 200 and 500 freestyle events for North Kitsap; Bremerton’s Nathan Rubie is a top contender in the 100 butterfly; and Olympic’s Ross Burchell will go head-to-head with some of the state’s best in the 200 IM and is the top seed in the 500 freestyle.
Wrestling
The WIAA Mat Classic takes place over two days at the Tacoma Dome. The first session begins Friday, Feb. 16 at 10 a.m. and runs through 2 p.m, and the second session begins at 3:30 p.m. and ends at 9:30 p.m. This generally covers the first two rounds.
On Saturday, the action begins with the third session at 9:45 a.m. and runs through 2:45 p.m., and includes the girls and the 1B/2B tournaments. The championship finals are scheduled for 5 p.m.
Keep an eye on South Kitsap’s performance as a team. Four Wolves wrestlers won regional titles — Xavier Eaglin at 106, Devin Gentz at 120, Sebastian Robles at 152 and Mason Eaglin at 170. South Kitsap has ten wrestlers in all competing and is in the running for a team state championship in 4A.
Gymnastics
The WIAA state championships for gymnastics takes place from Feb. 15-17. By virtue of its second place finish at districts, Kingston has qualified for this event as a team.
The 1A/2A/3A meet opens to the public at 10 a.m. on Feb. 15 for the first round of events. The finals will take place at 11 a.m. on Feb. 16, doors open at 8:45 a.m.
— Mark Krulish is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at mkrulish@soundpublishing.com.
