THURSTON – As the wrestling postseason comes into focus, coach Mike Simons Colts’ boys and girls continue to dominate the picture. The Thurston boys’ only loss this season came vs. Crater – the defending state champions.
“It just kind of shows where you’re at as a team. It shows kind of the depth that you have, and just gives you a pretty good idea of where you stand in the state,” Simons said. “We’ve beat everybody this year.”
Four standouts for the Colts’ boys this season are Samuel Greenstreet (106), Lukas Salas-Sanchez (113), Michael Salas-Sanchez (120), and Ivan Henderson (138). Greenstreet and Henderson have hit their stride, placing first in most of their matches.
Greenstreet’s record this season is 43-3.
“Sammy is one of our most technical wrestlers on the team, and hardest workers,” Simons said. “Last year, he was undersized. He weighed 91.3 pounds, and wrestled at 106 he was just giving up a lot of size. That caught up with him at the regional qualifiers for state last year. This year, he’s ranked number one in the state, he’s a full 106-pounder.”
Teammate Ivan Henderson boasts a 40-4 record. He’s been one of the most consistent wrestlers for the Colts.
The Salas-Sanchez brothers expected this season to be a big one. As the season winds down, they met those expectations.
“They’re extremely dedicated wrestlers. They love wrestling. They thrive on competition and they’re champing at the bit to get to the state championships because they love big events,” Simons said. Lukas has a record of 33-3. He placed fifth in his weight class nationally last season. Michael’s record is 49-6. Michael was sixth nationally last year in his weight class. Now, it’s all about finishing the job at state.
“The expectation for regionals is to win regionals. The expectation for state is to win state. Exclamation point. That’s our goal. If I said anything else, I’d be lying,” Simons said. “For our coaching staff and our wrestlers, that’s what we’re headed in to do. Anything besides that, we fell short.”
