Panther rosters are packed with plenty of experience

Familiar faces are back on the mat, looking to continue Bonney Lake’s near-decade tradition of wrestling excellence.

BOYS WRESTLING

Familiar faces are back on the mat, looking to continue Bonney Lake’s near-decade tradition of wrestling excellence.

The Panthers have placed in the state’s Top 10 every year since 2009 and capped the run with a Class 3A team championship last season. Also included in that run are a pair of third-place trophies.

Leading the way for Bonney Lake is one of Washington’s top-rated wrestlers, senior Brandon Kaylor. A three-time state champion, winning last season at 113 pounds, he’s looking to join an elite club of four-time tourney champs.

But he’s not the only Panther grappler with impressive credentials. Senior Sam Peterson claimed a state title a season ago at 220 pounds, securing the team title in the process, and junior Brenden Chaowanapibool was the Mat Classic champion at 106 pounds last year.

Also returning to the Panther program after advancing to the state tourney last season is senior Evan Tracy.

BOYS SWIM AND DIVE

With a mix of established veterans and junior newcomers, the Bonney Lake High swim and dive team had embarked upon the 2017-18 season.

Coach Jay Paulson has welcomed back experienced performers like Nikolas Schwendeman, Billy Rohrbough and Jadan Livingston. Schwendeman, a junior, advanced to the state meet a year ago in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke.

According to Paulson, Schwendeman is “already starting out much faster in the sprints this year. He’s poised to do extremely well.”

Rohrbough and Livingston – both team captains – hit qualifying marks last season and advanced to the district meet.

The coach also sees senior Cade John as a district-level diver and has high hopes for his only freshman, Jacob Schlosser.

“He’s already off to a great start and hopefully we will see him earn his way to districts and hopefully beyond,” Paulson said of Schlosser.

Beyond those five, Paulson said, “we have a lot of new swimmers this year that came out as juniors. We’ll see how they learn and progress through the season.”

The rest of the Panther roster includes senior Constantin Meister; juniors Tanner Bates, Zack Beaty, Ryan Childress, Juan Herreros-Gutierez, Gage Miller, Connor Shoemaker, Andrew Stevenson and Greg Warren; and sophomores Cayan Dibble, Jacob Griffiths and Max Lea.

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