[EDITOR’S NOTE: Back with more great work is our youngest-ever Contributor – 11-year old Isabel Herbruger – who has earned a Girl Scout badge in Journalism, and is also developing her skills for another 4H photography project after winning top prizes in it last year. We encourage residents of all ages to submit stories and photos for posting – for consideration, please email yours to editor@b-townblog.com!]
Photos and Story by Isabel Herbruger, age 11
The Highline Pirates recently sent nine wrestlers to State. Two of them were alternates and seven of them wrestled the first day. The only Pirates with experience on the floor at State were Senior Brian and I, but I am not quite a Pirate yet. It was a new experience for everyone else this year. Being on the floor and watched by 60,000 people can be pretty scary the first time you do it.
Unfortunately, only Sophomore Kevin made it to the second day, where he placed 8th overall for his weight class (106). Still, it was impressive to know Highline had seven wrestlers make the Top 16 in the state for their weight class. Brian, Kyle and Ty almost made it to the second day, placing them about 9th in the state.
Some schools, like Evergreen, only had one wrestler make it to State. Their wrestler’s name was Luana. She is a Senior this year and it was her first year in wrestling. She had wanted to wrestle since she was a little girl, but her parents were worried and would not let her do it until this year. Luana is a really good wrestler and was excited when she won Friday night to be able to come back Saturday. She ended up placing 7th in her weight class, which is amazing considering she never wrestled before this year!
I am sad the Pirate wrestling season is already over. It went too fast and feels like it just started! I followed the team to new tournaments this year; my favorite was the Hanford tournament because I had to drive through a lot of snow to get there. It was fun to post updates for the Pirate fans who could not make the trip.
At the wrestling awards, I was surprised when the coaches brought me up to thank me for my photos. They gave me a card with a surprise to get me closer to my goal of getting a professional sports lens. I got them back though with a nice photo collage of all the tournaments this year…I cannot figure out who is more lucky, the wrestling team or me.
A lot of Pirates are graduating and I will miss them next year. One good thing is there is a big Sophomore class with State experience now. They will be fun to watch the next two years. The only mystery is how the Pirates will do in their new league. There are not enough 2A teams in Seamount, so they are re-doing the schools into two new leagues. The Pirates will be facing a lot of different schools next year. But do not worry, one old-time rival still exists: the Highline Pirates still get to go after the Renton Indians. It seems like every year it comes down to one point to decide the winner – this year the Indians won League, but the Pirates dominated at Sub-Regionals. Next year the Pirates want to win both titles…. Go Pirates!
Click images to see larger versions/slideshow:
For many more photos from State, please go to Highline Pirate Wrestling.
In other exciting Pirate sports news, the boys basketball team made the playoffs for the first time in many years too. They did not advance very far, but it was still cool they made it!
Coming up next for sports is Track, Boys Soccer, Baseball and a few others….once Girl Scout Cookie Season is over that is!
Sincerely,
– Isabel H
Unofficial “Official Pirate Photographer”]]>
