SEDRO-WOOLLEY — The Burlington-Edison girls’ wrestling team found safety in numbers Saturday afternoon at the Sedro-Woolley tournament.

Kati Ortiz and Tiffany Tackett won individual championships and the Tigers won the team championship behind their formidable depth, with 23 total team placers.

Three Sedro-Woolley wrestlers won individual championships for the Cubs, who finished second overall in team scoring.

“Our strength is in our numbers,” said Burlington-Edison coach Travis Holmes, who currently has 39 wrestlers on the squad.

Ortiz claimed the championship in the 103-pound weight class, where she pinned the Cubs’ Andrea Iverson in 2 minutes, 59 seconds in the championship match.

Ortiz later said she was proud to get victories against Iverson and Yelm’s Megan Deschenes.

“Both girls I beat I had lost to in the last tournament,” she said.

For her championship, Tackett pinned Kathryn Fogle of Yelm in 3:54.

With much of their depth in the middle weights, Sedro-Woolley turned in a string of victories there. They Cubs had wins at 125, 135 and 140.

Alysia Pohren turned in three straight victories for the championship at 125, with three first-round pins making up her run through the tournament. In the championship, she pinned Yelm’s Samantha Keesler in :39. At 135, Jalysse Garcia won the championship after two sub-one minute pins.

She won the championship by forfeit after being matched against teammate Chelsea Seidel.

Jamie Randell got the championship at 140 after a pair of pins propelled her into the championship match against teammate Maree Reed, who forfeited.

Sedro-Woolley coach Barb Morgan said the veteran Cubs, including Pohren and Garcia, performed well, as always. She added that Haylee Rabeinstein, who finished second at 130 pounds to Lakewood’s Keely Cladwell, also had a great tournament.

She said the younger wrestlers also performed well.

“The freshmen girls are starting to string some things together,” she said.

Mount Vernon’s Ricarda Garcia was the championship at 112, where she earned a 9-4 decision over the Cubs’ Kendra Wilson.

The Tigers and Cubs will clash again with a matchup Tuesday at Sedro-Woolley.

Holmes said that wrestling fans could expect more of the same in the future, with area programs such as the Tigers, Cubs and Mount Baker growing and holding more tournaments.

“This is a sign of things to come,” he said, adding that the Tigers hope to host a tournament next season.

• Trevor Pyle can be reached at 360-416-2156 or by e-mail at