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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
December 24, 2015     Shelton Mason County Journal
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December 24, 2015
 
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Page B-4 -Mason County Journal- Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015 FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME "y junior year of high school I had the pleasure of meet- ing, swimming and becoming friends with two foreign exchange students. Fern was from Thai- land and Jessie from Taiwan. At school, the two of them were instant buds. They were funny, en- ergetic and full of life. When they joined the swim team, they brought that enthusiasm to the team. In the pool, they didn't know the technicalities of By AIEgAN[Ig VALDEZ swimming, but that was OK. They didn't care what they were swimming or when they were swim- ming, all that mat- tered was that they were swimming. They also helped broaden all of our minds to what life is like on the other side of the world. We asked them a million ques- tions about what the weather was like, what food they ate and what they did for fun. They in turn wanted to know all of that, but in the context of Greeley, Colorado. Another big reason they it's fun keeping up with the is that they speak the same joined the team was to get a duo. A couple of years ago sports language as Ameri- better grasp on English. We they reunited, and my friends cans. Fern and Jessie learned had no problems yammer- and I rejoiced with them onhow to do a flip turn and ing away with them if they Facebook. swim freestyle after a couple promised in return to teach So it makes me excited weeks of practicing. us words in Thai and Taiwan- to see that even schools inShelton's Hibbiki Shiiba ese. Mason County get foreign knows how to talk about That spring, my friends exchange students. It's notjump shots and shooting from and I went prom dress shop- only a great experience fordowntown, regardless of him ping with them. They loved the students in our county speaking Japanese off the trying on different dresses but also for the students from court. and going to different stores, other countries. Sports are a universal When prom rolled around, Plus, if you stay buddies language that bonds students they also rolled with us to the you have an excuse to travel from Mason County to any- dance, to a different country one day one who comes to play. I have to admit I've been in the future. bad and haven't kept up with From a sports standpoint, • Alexandria Valdez can be them consistently. But we're the greatest thing about reached at alexandria@ma- all friends on social media so foreign exchange students soncounty.com or 426-4412. She~ton wrestlers were competitive, coach says By ALEXANDRIA VALDEZ alexandria@masoncoun com From Dec. 18-19, the HammerHead Invitational attracted 44 boys and 16 girls wrestling teams to the Kitsap Sun Pavilion. Shelton brought two teams to the Silverdale meet and had an opportunity to compete with other 3A wrestlers, and even some 4A com- petition. "We had mixed results on the first day," head coach Chris Lacy said. "We had one tough round that we all didn't overcome. Our kids were very competi- tive and we had a few kids really step up and wrestle better." The boys finished 21st with 83 points and the girls finished 19th with 28 points. Freshman Quinn Lacy was the high- est finisher for Shelton. She finished second overall after making it to the championship round for the 190-pound class. Lacy was pinned by Fife High School's Niki Abaglo. On the boys side, senior Alec Man- ke placed sixth in the 152-pound class and Gable Lacy placed fifth in the 182-pound class. Senior Colton Paller was one of the wrestlers who stumbled during the tournament. He said his toughest match was against Edwin Shaw from Decatur High School. Paller, who is quick for his size, said it's hard going against wrestlers in the 195-pound weight class because they are so sturdy. When he tried to take shots, he was shut down. Shaw pinned Paller at the one-min- ute mark. Shelton senior Fred Horne competes during the HammerHead Highclimbers had three wrestlers place at the tournament. Journal photo by Alexandria Valdez Invitational in Silverdale over the weekend. The "I think we had a lack of excitement," Paller said. "It was just a mental grind because we were waking up at 4 a.m. on a Saturday and Friday morning to wrestle. It was really tough." The Shelton senior won two matches and lost two matches. But Paller said he is going to turn his negative expe- rience into motivation to work harder over the holiday break. Lacy said the tournament was a Lacy said. "They just need to have the good early season measuring stick, ability to bounce back and wrestle all "It reminds all the kids technical- day long. There are little things that ly they have to be excellent in their add.up to a big experience." matches and little mistakes in those Shelton's next match is Jan. 22 at matches can cause you some trouble," the Bremerton Holiday Classic. 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