Arlington falls to Marysville-Pilchuck

The Arlington Eagles faced off against Marysville-Pilchuck May 28 at Arlington High School and the Tomahawks topped Arlington with a team score of 40-36.

“Our kids stepped up when we needed it,” said Marcus Haughian, head coach for M-PHS.

Junior Andon Merrick, who normally wrestles at 170 pounds, jumped up a weight class to 182 pounds and got the decision over Arlington’s Angel Ramos, winning 20-11. “It just made more sense for the match and our team,” Haughian said.

Marysville-Pilchuck’s Leeto Perez (138 pounds) pinned the Eagles’ David Forslaf in the first period as time expired.

“We went back and forth. It was a battle. It was fun,” Haughian said.

Arlington's Dustin Baxter, wrestling at 120 pounds, and Dorian Tollenaar, wrestling at 126 pounds, both pinned their opponents, Sale Hunt and Mikey Bejar, respectively, in the first round.

“I don’t think we wrestled bad. It just didn’t go our way and that’s unfortunate,” said Jonny Gilbertson, wrestling coach for Arlington High School.

Arlington’s Eric Vogel (132 pounds) picked up the win pinning Malaki Childress in the second period while Bryson Gollihar pinned Marysville-Pilchuck’s Milo Jones-Longstreet in the first period.

Marysville-Pilchuck’s Iakov Bonder scored the pin over Dimitri Shaffer at 152 pounds while Bodee Davis pinned Arlington’s Caiden Patterson at 160 pounds.

Gilbertson said the matches between Arlington High School and Marysville-Pilchuck High School are really tight and almost always come down to the last match.

The evening saw both Marysville-Pilchuck and Arlington forfeit at 106 pounds. The Tomahawks forfeited at 170 pounds and 195 pounds while the Eagles forfeited at 113 pounds, 220 pounds and 285 pounds.

The May 28 match marked the second time Marysville-Pilchuck’s wrestling team competed during the season. Their first four matches were canceled due to COVID protocols.

During the Tomahawks' first match of the season on May 26, Marysville-Pilchuck picked up a win 42-24 against Jackson. The Eagles lost May 26 to Stanwood 14-38.

Marysville-Pilchuck hosts Marysville Getchell June 3 and then hosts Glacier Peak June 7. They conclude their season June 9 traveling to Archbishop Murphy.

Arlington hosts Glacier Peak June 3 and then travels to Snohomish June 7. They conclude their season hosting Lake Stevens June 9.

Arlington's Dorian Tollenaar, Trevor Latta, and Dustin Baxter will travel to Fargo, North Dakota, in July to wrestle in the national freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling tournament.

“These kids have been working their tails off,” said Dustin Baxter, head coach and founder of Punisher Wrestling Company based in Arlington. They qualified thanks to their performance at a state tournament in Everett last month.

“I was wrestling really good that day,” Tollenaar, who will wrestle at 113 pounds during the national tournament, said. A senior at Arlington, he will wrestle for Northern Idaho College where he plans to major in astronomy.

During the tournament in Everett, he placed first in freestyle and second in Greco-Roman at 113 pounds. Baxter placed second in freestyle and Greco-Roman in the 120-pound weight class. Latta, who is wrestling at 160 pounds, placed fourth in Greco-Roman.

Gilbertson said the tournament will give the wrestlers a chance to train with and compete against wrestlers on a national level. “It’s good for all those guys.”