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Five of the 11 Washington High School wrestlers won their first round match Thursday on the opening day of the 2A individual state tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum. All five will wrestle their winner’s bracket matches Friday night and two more are in elimmination matches Friday afternoon.

Freshman Sam Boltes, the top seed in the East at 106 lb., defeated his opponent, the #4 seed from the West, 16-4 to advance in the winners bracket.
Classmate Bryce Perry, the #1 East seed at 113 also advanced with a pin over the fourth seed from the Mideast regional.

Sophomore Gabe Forman, the second seed from the East at 144, won 11-4 over the #3 from the West, senior Bryant Smith, the top seed from the East at 157 defeated the fourth seed from the Midwest, 6-1 and third-seeded sophomore Trenton Baldree recorded a pin over the second seed from the West.

The top four seeds from the four regions qualified for the double-elimination event.

Four Washington grapplers lost their first two matches and have been eliminated. Seniors Christian Price (120), Braxton Woolard (126) and TraQuon Haywood (165) ended their careers in the second round, while junior Marek Bates (190) also lost his second round match.

Sophomores David B. Meza (138) and Trent Tucker (150) staved off elimination with victories. Meza won a 9-3 decision over the fourth seed from the Midwest regional, while Tucker won 3-1 against the #3 from the Mideast. Both will wrestle later Friday.

The opening round of the 1A meet starts Friday afternoon. Northside’s Jacob Robert (113) and Rylan Paul (138) are seeded fourth in their weight classes.