Bailey Womack was the only weight-class champion from Ilwaco at the freestyle tournament, winning the 130-pound division. Womack had a solid freshman high school season, advancing to regionals.

TACOMA — Wrestling mats were already laid on the floor of the cavernous Tacoma Dome for the WIAA high school tournament. So why not use them one more day?

That is the philosophy of the Washington State Wrestling Association, which stages a Folkstyle State Tournament on the Sunday after the school event. The one-day tournament was presented by the Kalispell Tribe.

It gave experience for several wrestlers from Ilwaco High School, Hilltop Middle School and members of the Ilwaco Wrestling Club.

IHS boys head coach Larry Kemmer said the event runs non-stop from 8 a.m. until all 1,800 wrestlers have competed.

“It’s a good way to get extra mat time and to see what it is like to wrestle at the dome,” said Kemmer, who had five boys wrestle and two earn medals the day before. “The only separation is weight and age. The school size makes no difference here. Getting wins is not an easy feat!”

Ilwaco’s one champion was Bailey Womack, wrestling at 130 pounds. Freshmen teammates Ophelia Wise placed second, Angel Salas placed fourth and Abigail Doan placed fifth in their weight divisions.

Of the younger girls competing, second-grader Lilly Matzen defeated the defending state champion to earn the third-place medal at 85 pounds.

Seventh-grader Sage Womack placed sixth at 143 pounds. Aila Soule and Kennedi Kemmer, also from Hilltop Middle School, wrestled a couple of matches each in the 108 division.

For the boys, Jace Linthakhan, who placed fourth at state the day before, went 2-2 at 106 pounds; Mason Grisham had a win in that division.

High school student-athletes who wrestled on the first day of state, Wade Smith and Zech Taylor, both had wins at 157 pounds. Marcus Lynch, who went to state as an alternate but did not wrestle, placed fourth at 215.

Oscar Gustafson went 2-2 at 120 pounds, a division in which Blake Bell picked up a win. Others with victories were Guadalupe Torres (132) and Gavin Estrada (150); Ezekiel Sanchez also wrestled.

Jerry Matzen, who coaches the club athletes in Ilwaco, took to the mat in the open class, his first match in 20 years. But, unlike his 8-year-old daughter, he didn’t come home with a medal. He had qualified for state three times during his high school years when Ilwaco was a 2A school. “I definitely need a wrestling partner my age and size for next year,” he said.

Middle school boys’ successes were led by Byron Petit, who placed second at 250 pounds. Dean Schauer went 2-2 at 83 pounds and Waylon McCafferty (117) and Sam Eakin (119) each picked up wins.

“It was a fantastic way to finish up the season and for all of our age groups to come together,” said Frank Womack, head coach of the IHS girls’ squad.