MAT CLASSIC WRESTLING: Forks’ Blair, Daman state champions

Published 1:30 am Thursday, February 26, 2026

By Pierre LaBossiere

TACOMA — For the first time since 1992, the Forks wrestling programs have two state champions. The Forks boys also for the ninth straight year finished among the top seven teams at state, coming in third as a team at the Mat Classic with a total of eight wrestlers placing, including 285-pound state champion Kenneth Daman. Joining Daman on the championship podium was Forks’ Jade Blair, who won the 125-pound state title at the girls 1B/2B tournament.

Blair won the title with four straight pins, including one match in which she was trailing on points. She beat Jayleth Gonzalez of Kiona-Benton in the title match to finish her season on a perfect high note. Blair finished third at state last year. Daman won with five straight pins. Not one of his matches reached the third round. He beat Carter Pease of River View in the championship match. He finished fifth last year.

The last time Forks had two state champions was 1992, according to athletic director Kyle Weakley. The Forks boys finished third with 179 points. Granger won the 1B/2B state championship with 208.5 points while Tonasket was second at 201. Forks finished sixth last year, second on 2024, first in 2023, fourth in 2022, seventh at 1A in 2020 (there was no Matt Classic in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), third in 2019, fourth in 2018 and sixth in 2017.

A total of 15 Olympic Peninsula athletes, 12 boys and three girls, placed at the Mat Classic in various classifications. Forks had seven other boys who placed beside Daman. Braden Camacho-Roldan capped off a successful season for the Spartans by finishing third at 126 pounds, going 5-1 at the Mat Classic, winning his third-place match with a 12-0 major decision over Bearett Murphey of Freeman.