Grapplers forced to forfeit at least five weight classes per match at Duals.
With forecasters calling for snow flurries and sub-freezing temps, Doug Dowell was skeptical last Saturday’s Olympic Dream Duals would go off without a hitch.
Dowell, the tournament co-director, remembered the floods of 2007 closing portions of Interstate 5, forcing two teams to turn around and cancel.
Not this year.
“We were a bit concerned about the inclement weather, but in the end, all of the teams were able to make it safely to the event,” Dowell said. “Overall, the tournament went extremely well.”
With the entire 16-school field in attendance at the Kitsap Fairgrounds Pavilion, including Central Kitsap, Klahowya, Olympic and North Kitsap, Bremerton wrestled four times en route to a seventh-place finish.
With a first-round match against eventual runner-up A.C. Davis of Yakima, the Knights were throttled 69-6. Thirty-six of those points, however, were lost due to forfeits at weights BHS couldn’t fill.
“We forfeited anywhere from 30 to 36 points per match,” Barton said of his team’s depth, lacking most at the heavier weights.
But Barton said the lack of depth shouldn’t translate to a lack in effort as it did, to an extent, against Davis.
“I was really disappointed in the match against Davis even though we knew we weren’t going to beat them,” Barton said. “We had a little meeting of the minds, if you will, as I call it, and I told them how disappointed I was and that we could do better than that.”
The “pep talk” worked, with Bremerton beating two of its final three opponents — Peninsula and Gonzaga Prep — on the mat. The Peninsula match, however, counted against Bremerton in the standings because forfeits negated the on-mat advantage.
“You can’t control the forfeits, but what we can do is show up to wrestle,” Barton said. “As the day went on, we wrestled better.”
Barton said he reminded his team to wrestle as a unit and to use the Duals as a learning experience rather than a benchmark of success.
“It’s an awesome tournament, just the level of competition and the level of state wrestlers that are there,” Barton said. “It’s not an individual tournament, it’s a team tournament.”
Andres Garcia (215) and Lauren Richardson (103) each wrestled four times, with Richardson going 3-1. With a 47-24 victory against Gonzaga Prep to end the day, the Knights avoided finishing winless.
Wenatchee finished on top, defeating Davis 34-29 in the championship, while Olympic won three consecutive matches — against Olympia, Gonzaga Prep and Auburn Riverside — after an opening-round loss against Hudson’s Bay, 39-36, to capture a share of third place.
“The top tier teams can compete with anyone in the state,” Dowell said, pointing to Wenatchee and Davis as well as traditional powers Heritage and Yelm, who also attended. “I was very pleased with the level of competition.”
Klahowya and Central Kitsap each finished 2-2 to earn shares of fifth place.
The Cougars tied Auburn Riverside 39-39 in a third-round consolation match, but lost the tiebreaker by virtue of total pins and were forced to settle for a fifth-place match against NK to end the day.
“The third round of competition especially demonstrated the parody that existed (between the teams),” Dowell said. “During that round in particular, we witnessed a number of fantastically close matches.”
In that round, the Eagles defeated Bethel 43-35 and Olympic defeated Stanwood 42-39.
North Kitsap finished the day 1-3, beating Gonzaga Prep to secure a lone win.
The Duals were originally started by former Olympic wrestling coach and tournament co-director Darryl Smith and have now been at the Pavilion four consecutive years.
And Dowell said he intends to bring the event back to Kitsap.
“First and foremost, it provides a stage to showcase the wonderful student-athletes that our area produces,” Dowell said of the event. “Hosting such a large event also supports the local economy by bringing all those teams and their families into the area.”
The event continues to attract more wrestling fans each year and is garnering attention from schools around Washington state and even Oregon.
And with the economy in flux, corporate sponsorships, grants, a silent auction, the support of Fairgrounds and county staff and other fundraising endeavors continue to make the event possible.
“Over the years, this has involved literally hundreds of hours of planning and hard work to make it happen,” Dowell said.
The grapplers are in Yakima this weekend for the SunDome Mat Classic.
“It’s kind of like a mini state tournament, it’s quite an amazing event to be a part of,” Barton said. “It’s a good tournament for us to compete in, we’re excited.”
Results
Davis 69, Bremerton 6; Auburn Riverside 47, Bremerton 24; Peninsula 54, Bremerton 24; Bremerton 47, Gonzaga Prep 24
And with the economy in flux, corporate sponsorships, grants, a silent auction, the support of Fairgrounds and county staff and other fundraising endeavors continue to make the event possible.
“Over the years, this has involved literally hundreds of hours of planning and hard work to make it happen,” Dowell said.
The grapplers are in Yakima this weekend for the SunDome Mat Classic.
“It’s kind of like a mini state tournament, it’s quite an amazing event to be a part of,” Barton said. “It’s a good tournament for us, to get a feel for what the state tournament is like.”
Olympic Dream Duals
Results
First round
Davis 69, Bremerton 6
Klahowya 44, Auburn Riverside 27
Central Kitsap 43, Bethel 31
Yelm 74, North Kitsap 6
Stanwood 68, Gonzaga 12
Wenatchee 58, Olympia 16
Hudson’s Bay 39, Olympic 36
Heritage d. Peninsula (score not reported)
Quarterfinals
Yelm 66, Stanwood 18
Davis 53, Klahowya 24
Heritage 54, Central Kitsap 18
Wenatchee 73, Hudson’s Bay 6
Consolation, second round
Auburn Riverside 47, Bremerton 24
Bethel 39, Peninsula 37
North Kitsap 54, Gonzaga Prep 30
Olympic 51, Olympia 27
Semifinals
Wenatchee 48, Yelm 27
Davis 36, Heritage 33
Consolation, third round
Olympic 42, Stanwood 39
Auburn-Riverside 39, Central Kitsap 39 (Auburn Riverside wins tiebreaker)
Hudson’s Bay 44, North Kitsap 24
Klahowya 43, Bethel 35
Peninsula 54, Bremerton 24
Olympia 50, Gonzaga Prep 12
Championship
Wenatchee 34, Davis 29
Third place
Yelm 53, Klahowya 24
Olympic 43, Auburn Riverside 34
Heritage 45, Hudson’s Bay 19
Fifth place
Central Kitsap 60, North Kitsap 9
Peninsula 48, Olympia 24
Stanwood 63, Bethel 18
Seventh place
Bremerton 47, Gonzaga Prep 24
