Orcas wrestler, on Friday Harbor team, takes third at state

Beau Wiebe wrestled his way to third place at the Washington state championship in Tacoma on Feb. 16 and 17.

“I’m happy for him, I know he was hoping for a better result. He said he wanted to win a state title for me. We’ve been through so much together, a lot of ups and downs, but just looking back on the whole picture, the last 10 years,” said Matthew Wiebe, Beau’s dad. “He’s accomplished a lot; 7th, 3rd and 3rd in high school is pretty cool. I’m proud of him.”

The 18-year-old Orcas Island High School senior wrestles with the Friday Harbor High School team because Orcas does not have a wrestling program. Wiebe and his family moved to Orcas last year.

Since starting in 2009, Beau has wrestled freestyle and Greco Roman and has won state champion honors in both of those disciplines, said Matthew. Beau has even made it as far as taking fourth place at a national competition in Utah in 2014.

“I wrestle because there is no other competition more competitive and more intense than wrestling,” he said.

Beau placed first in his weight class on Saturday, Feb. 10 at the regional wrestling tournament, following a first-place win in the district’s competition.