Shorewood Girls take 4th at the 3A District 1 Wrestling Tournament

Stormray girls: L-R Finley Houck, Anna Bond, Lynn Ou, Maizy Schmid, Aly Fellores, Izzy Crave, Libby Norton, Sarah Norton, Ellie Van Horn, Abi Chishungu, Natalia Pitman

Story and photos by Tricia Norton

On February 14, 2025 the 3A girls finally got to take to the mats in Oak Harbor after their tournament was delayed a week due to snow. 

“It was painful to have to wait another week when we were so ready to go,” said senior Stormray Libby Norton who was ready to defend her district title. The Stormray girls took advantage of the extra week of practice and showed up ready to win!

The Stormray lineup included all three returning state placers who have been battling injuries this year. 

Coach Norton said, “It was so good to have Finley Houck back in the lineup. We’ve missed her leadership and experience while she was recovering from her injury early in the season.”

Ellie Van Horn "Redemption Tour"

Highlights of the tournament included what became known as the “redemption tour” for junior Ellie Van Horn. She had a slow start to the season after an early injury. But yesterday Van Horn came back through the consolation bracket and beat three straight opponents that she had lost to earlier in the season. Van Horn’s 3rd place finish secured her place at the State Championship.

Stormray Aly Fellores wrestled strong during the tournament and placed 2nd after her rematch with Edmonds-Woodway’s Grace Fitting ended in a close loss. Abi Chishungu also battled through to a 4th place finish.

District champs Izzy Crave, Finley Houck, Libby Norton

Libby Norton successfully defended her district title with last second nearfall points in an intense match with Sedro-Wooley’s Isabelle Goedl. Finley Houck dominated Cassidy Halgren of Mount Vernon, pinning her in a wild scramble to clinch her 3rd straight district title. Izzy Crave defended her district title against Shyla Weeks of Snohomish in a 1st round pin.

Coach Brady Houck commented, “I was really proud of how the team battled on day two. We had multiple girls come back from deficits to win matches and grind out some tough wins. I was particularly proud of the day 2 Van Horn Redemption Tour and Libby Norton putting 8 points up on the board in less than 30 seconds to win the championship was incredible.”

The 3A District 1 tournament sends the top 10 in each weight to the State Tournament, so also joining the team for competition will be Sarah Norton (7th), Lynn Ou (10th). Anna Bond also placed 6th but will not compete after being injured in her last match. 

Coach Houck was delighted with the 4th place team finish explaining, “From a team perspective we also flipped several tournament and dual meet results from earlier in the year by taking 4th. Given our number [of wrestlers entered into the tournament], we placed about as high as we reasonably could have.”