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Alex Turner, seen here during football’s Senior Night, is now ripping up the wrestling mat. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Fear the Wolves on the mat.

Coupeville High School may only have one active wrestler, and no program of its own, but that lone Wolf is doing OK on his own.

CHS senior Alex Turner was fairly flawless Saturday, sweeping through three matches to claim a title in the 182-pound class at the Everett Gold Medal Classic.

He opened with a win on points (12-4), the pinned his second and third foes. The first pin came in a sizzlin’ 30 seconds.

Turner, who returned to Coupeville this year after spending several seasons at South Whidbey High School, was an alternate to state last year as a Falcon junior.

Unfortunately, his current school has never had a wrestling program, so he and dad Joseph arranged for him to train and travel with 3A Oak Harbor High School.

Turner competes as a Wolf, though, and will return to 1A for the postseason.

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Coupeville senior Alex Turner (top) takes control during a pre-season wrestling match. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Coupeville’s one-man wrestling team has officially arrived.

Coming off an inter-squad scrimmage in which he won both of his bouts, Alex Turner split four matches Saturday at the 30-team Edmonds Invite.

The Coupeville High School senior, who is training and traveling with 3A Oak Harbor but competing as a lone Wolf, finished 5th in the 182-pound class.

Both of Turner’s wins Saturday came via points, with 14-8 and 9-7 decisions.

The majority of the teams represented in the Invite were 3A and 4A schools, while Coupeville is among the smallest of 1A institutions.

Seeing a Wolf on the mat is an unusual occurrence, as CHS has no in-school wrestling program.

After transferring from South Whidbey, where he went to state as an alternate in the 170-pound class during his junior season, Turner faced the end of his grappling career.

But, after a plea to the WIAA, he and his father, Joseph, were able to work out an agreement between the two Island schools.

Turner will wrestle in tournaments, but can’t compete and score points for Oak Harbor in dual meets.

He did take part in the annual Purple and Gold scrimmage, beating both Wildcat grapplers who stepped on the mat with him.

Once the postseason starts, Turner will leave OHHS behind and head back down to 1A as he chases his Mat Classic dreams.

“My goal is to make it to the second day of state this year,” he said.

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   A visiting wrestler is hailed as the winner at a recent exhibition in Everett between American and Japanese grapplers. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

“And where do you think you’re going????”

Wrestling officials lay down the rules.

   Oak Harbor’s Michael Fisken (in red), who doesn’t normally wrestle freestyle, gamely tries to hold his own on the mat.

Three Oak Harbor High School wrestlers got a chance Friday to find out what it was like to fight for their life.

Facing off with grapplers from another continent, while using a different wrestling style than normal, the Wildcat trio were part of a USA vs. Japan exhibition match in Everett.

OHHS juniors Caleb Fitzgerald, Blake McBride and Michael Fisken and their coach, Larry Falcon, were part of the American team, which was drawn from Wesco schools.

Once on the mat, the ‘Cats had to wrestle freestyle, which is favored internationally, instead of folkstyle, which is what American high schools and colleges favor.

If you’re wondering what the difference is, hey, that’s why Wikipedia exists.

Fresh off the experience, McBride and Fisken reverted back to their normal style of wrestling Saturday, winning titles at 145 and 220, respectively, at the Panther Classic at Snohomish High School.

Having been informed Coupeville Sports has a decent following in Japan (seriously, it does), proud dad and ever-busy photographer John Fisken sent me a couple of the pics he shot at the international event.

For that, we (my Japanese fans and myself) thank him.

To see everything Fisken shot at the exhibition, pop over to:

http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/Wrestling-2017-2018/2018-01-05-USA-vs-Japan/

And PS, if you think Coupeville should join the rest of the civilized world and have a wrestling team (like virtually every other freakin’ high school in the state), I agree.

Now, someone go do something about it.

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All your pertinent details.

All your pertinent details.

There is hope, Coupeville wrestlers.

While our town is a relative dead zone for the sport (boo!), there are opportunities for local grapplers if they’re willing to leave town.

One such opportunity is right down the road in Langley, where a new wrestling program is starting up practices at South Whidbey High School Mar. 2.

Chain Wrestling West is a youth wrestling club aimed at kids 8-18.

The club is an offshoot of Chain Wrestling East, which launched in Carnation in 2013 and has been extremely successful.

For all the info you need, take a gander at the photo above or pop over to:

http://www.chain-wrestling.com/

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Lita (John Fisken photo)

   Lita Woollet, currently a 7th grader at Coupeville Middle School, is shown in action last year. (John Fisken photo)

There’s no wrestling program in Coupeville, but that doesn’t mean Wolf athletes can’t take to the mat.

The Whidbey Wildcat Wrestling program in Oak Harbor is open to grapplers ages 5-18 and is actively seeking new participants.

In recent years, a handful of Coupeville kids have taken part and the club would like to see the numbers continue to grow.

Practices, which are held at Oak Harbor High School, start Oct. 10 and registration is open now.

Wrestlers can register at any point during the season, so no excuses if you miss the opening push.

For much, much more info (or to register ahead of the pack), pop over to the Wildcat Wrestling web site at:

http://www.whidbeywildcatwrestling.com/

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