“POULSBO – Five North Kitsap wrestlers will travel to regionals this weekend, with two more on tap as alternatives. The wrestlers competed in a tournament in Puyallup last weekend to earn their spots. The regional competition will be held in Vancouver, and those wreslters who do well enough to go to state will take part in the Mat Classic in Tacoma. Of the North Kitsap wrestlers, Leif Olson did the best last weekend. Olson won three matches before falling to last year’s state champion in the 160-lb. weight class, Dan Pitsch. Other Vikings who will be making the trip to Vancouver include Jordan Andersen, Jarod Jennings, Clark Hutchman, and Mike Holm. Andersen took fourth in his weight class; Hutchman third; Holm fifth; and Jennings fourth. Nate Carter and Joe Vierra will be alternates. I’m pretty happy with our performance, said coach Larry Maguire, who took 13 wrestlers to Puyallup to compete. I wish we could have placed a few more, but when you get to that level, it’s all tough. Maguire was pleased with all of his wrestlers, but especially happy with the performances turned in by the younger athletes. Monday afternoon, several wrestlers could be found still working on their moves in the NKHS auxillary gym after school. Several wrestlers who will not be making the trip to Vancouver came in to help their teamates. It’s great for some of those guys to come in and help us, Maguire said. For Jarod Jennings, who will be competing in the 189-lb. weight class this weekend, this trip (and perhaps a trip to state), will be the culmination of hard work. I’ve done as well as I’ve ever done before, said Jennings, who has wrestled for about a dozen years. I’ve really been working hard last year and this year. Last year, Jennings got some playing time on varsity when Leif Olson was injured (they wrestle in different weight classes now). He believes that that experience, the help of the coaching staff, and his own hard work has contributed to his success so far. Jennings won one match in the winners’ bracket last weekend, then was dropped down to the consolation bracket by a loss, where he then won three more. I should have been able to beat him, Jennings said of his opponant. But he was tough. Andersen, who wrestles in the 119-lb. weight class, was also knocked into the consoltion round. I haven’t been to a tournament that large, Andersen said of the Puyallup tournament, where there were four matches going at once. Was the crowd big? For a wrestling match, it was a pretty big crowd, Andersen said. Both wrestlers hold the same goal: they want to make it to state. At one point Jennings said, If I make it to state … Jennings then interupted himself: WHEN I make it to state, he said, correcting himself in mid-sentence. “