Bellevue-area wrestlers qualify for state

Four Bellevue-area wrestlers qualified for the Mat Classic on Feb. 21-22 at the Tacoma Dome.

Interlake’s Carson Fricke (106, third at 3A regionals), Newport’s Keir Lopez (195, third at 4A regionals), Bellevue Christian’s DeAunte Epp (145, third at regionals) and Bellevue Christian’s Nathan Antonescu (285, first at regionals) all qualified for the Mat Classic.

At the boys 3A KingCo/Wesco South Sub-Regionals on Feb. 7-8, five wrestlers qualified for the regional wrestling tournament. As a team, Interlake finished ninth and Bellevue finished 10th.

From Interlake, Carson Fricke (106, third), Luke Manchester (113, fourth), Hok-Yin Chan (160, fourth) and Cole Mullenix (220, fifth) all qualified for regionals. Bellevue’s Bogdan Manzar (106, fourth) was the lone qualifier for the Wolverines.

At the boys 4A KingCo championships, six Newport wrestlers qualified for the regional tournament. As a team, the Knights finished seventh overall at the league championships.

Enoch Kwong (113, third), Matt Roberts (113, fifth), Nhi-Lac Thai (132, second), Dane Hansen (182, fourth), Keir Lopez (195, third) and Yuhao Chen (285, fifth) all qualified for regionals.

Newport’s Jada Yamada (115) finished third at the girls sub-regional wrestling tournament Feb. 7-8 at Chief Sealth High School.

At the KingCo Olympic boys 2A sub-regional on Feb. 8 at Chief Sealth High School, Sammamish finished eighth as a team.

Totems who placed at sub-regionals: Matthew Hornbuckle (120, eighth), Astrid Clayton (126, eighth), Gavri Cook (138, eighth), Firas Kalthoum (182, sixth) and Solomon Adams (195, fifth).

At the boys West Central District 1A Championships, the Bellevue Christian Vikings finished fifth.

Top placers for the Vikings: Nick Olsen (120, fifth), DeAunte Epp (145, second) and Nathan Antonescu (285, first).