Federal Way girls wrestlers have best finish at state since 2020
Published 5:12 pm Tuesday, February 24, 2026
At Mat Classic XXXVII, Federal Way High School’s girl wrestlers made waves as the Eagles girls’ team finished fifth in the team competition and had five wrestlers take the podium in the tournament’s final act.
Of all eight teams in Federal Way, no team had more wrestlers or placers than the Eagle girls’ team. If you combine Todd Beamer’s two teams, Federal Way boys and Thomas Jefferson boys, the Eagles girls team still has three more wrestlers competing at the state tournament. Federal Way jumped up four spots in the team standings this year, moving up from ninth a year prior.
The Eagles were led by senior Marina Velasco-Bono, who finished second at 130 pounds. She entered the tournament as the fifth seed, making it to the semifinals and eventually the championship round. Velasco-Bono picked up an injury during the second round of her match against Lakes’ Kendall Griffin. She was tied 5-5 after the first round, but that injury hurt in the second round as she was outscored 7-0.
Yarely Cervantes finished fourth for Federal Way, the second highest finisher for the Eagles. Lola James took fifth, while Lamia Sky Misher and Faye Imosesiri both took sixth for Federal Way. The last time Federal Way as a team, boys or girls, finished top five in the state was back in 2020 before the pandemic.
The Eagles scored 72 points that season, finishing in fourth place. In that 2020 tournament, Federal Way had just three placers, two tournament winners and a third palce finisher. Kayla McKinley- Johnson and London Houston topped the podium with Jennifer Tongi right behind them back in 2020.
Todd Beamer’s Caleb Clemans made his way to the final round at 120 pounds for the Titans, his first appearance in the final match in his career. He finished third last year, but was matched up with Adrian Windsor of Silas High School, who was last year’s champion at 113 pounds, the same division Clemans wrestled in.
The only other placer in Federal Way was Decatur senior Jayden Walker at 175 pounds. Walker will be Decatur head coach Zac Cardwell’s final placer in his 10-year career as the head of Decatur’s program. Walker defeated Kentlake’s Eric Kelly for seventh place.
