Home is where the heart is and Bonney Lake’s wrestling team testified to that fact on Valentine’s Day, showing a lot of heart and representing themselves well at the regional wrestling tournament, staged at their own facility Saturday.

The Panthers will send two champions to the Tacoma Dome Saturday for Mat Classic XXI, the state championships.

Bonney Lake’s 145-pound senior Addison Tracy, who has yet to lose a match this year at 37-0, sailed through the preliminaries on his home turf, but confronted a buzz saw in Enumclaw’s Jacob Jokela, winning a narrow 4-2 decision for the title belt.

Meanwhile Tracy’s teammate, Jared Dorsey, who seemes to have found some success in the heavyweight realm despite tipping the scales at about 235, came away taking all the marbles in the unlimited class. Dorsey, a senior transfer from Nebraska, had a fairly easy time of it in the heavyweight championship outlasting Foster High’s Troy Farris with a 9-3 decision.

Other Panthers making the trip to the Tacoma Dome will be Nick Bendon, a third-place regional finisher at 135-pounds and his brother Pat Bendon, who finished fourth in the jam-packed 125-pound division. Also living to wrestle another day was senior Sam Mebarki who took the silver at 189 pounds when he was edged out in the championship tilt by Enumclaw’s Mike Staples 9-8. This year has been Mebarki’s maiden voyage in wrestling and he nearly took gold on his home digs.

Additionally, at 119 pounds Robbie Slick will be joining his teammates at state by virtue of finishing fourth as he barely got beat out by Peninsula’s Steve Lacheney in a 9-7 decision.

Bonney Lake’s 160-pounder Joey Salgado punished his challenger in the fight for third and fourth as he flailed the tail of Lindbergh’s Isiah Corwin 20-7 and junior toughie Josh Peart will represent the Panthers at state in an alternate capacity as he won fifth place honors by trimming his Mount Rainier 140 pound foe, Justin Bishop, with a 10-6 judgement.

Reach John Leggett at jleggett@courierherald.com or 360-802-8207.