The East Jefferson Rivals wrestling teams brought three boys and five girls to compete in a tournament over the weekend on Bainbridge Island.

The grapplers put in one of their best performances of the season as three EJ wrestlers earned first place in their weight classes. Three more Rivals wrestlers came in second for their weight class, meaning six out of eight Rivals athletes gained a spot on the podium Saturday.

“We had a small team but the ones we brought wrestled like dynamite,” said Steve Grimm, head coach of the Rivals wrestling program.

The three EJ wrestlers to win gold were Mi Amada Lanphear Ramirez, Logan Massie, and Melody Douglas.

Lanphear Ramirez came in first for the 115-pound weight class, winning every match in the tourney with ease.

The sophomore has been unbeatable lately and hasn’t lost a wrestling match in more than a month. She also achieved Athlete of the Week honors this week from the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.

Lanphear Ramirez looks to continue dominating the opposition in her first season ever wrestling.

Senior Logan Massie won gold for the 170 weight class after a fantastic showing in the Bainbridge tourney. He won the Match of the Day award after defeating 4A No. 6-ranked wrestler Emanuele Collins of Kennedy Catholic in the finals match for his weight class.

Melody Douglas earned the top spot for the 140 weight class and won her first gold medal of the season for East Jefferson. The junior was exceptional, displaying her wrestling acumen with a last-second throw to put her ahead of her opponent as time expired.

Additionally, Lily Delgado, Devon Bennett-Anderson, and Savanna Hoffmann earned silver medals at the tourney.

The EJ girls unofficially won the team title at the Bainbridge tournament, while the boys finished in 10th place.

The wrestling teams’ following matchup is at home Wednesday versus Cascade Christian, and their next wrestling meet will be on Jan. 22 as the grapplers participate in separate boys and girls tournaments at Lakes High School in Tacoma.

With the postseason — which starts Feb. 5 — looming around the corner, coaches Grimm and Wilcox see the Lakes wrestling tourney as an opportunity to gauge their grapplers against top-notch competition.

“This will be a big test for us. It a tough tournament with some big schools. Eight different mats in three different buildings. This will be the biggest tournament for the girls before post-season,” Grimm said.

“Some of the bigger schools there will have full girls teams with roster sizes above 15 girls. These will be the girls we will be competing with to get to State, so this will be an early test to gauge ourselves,” he said.

Jim Wilcox, head coach of the girls wrestling team, reiterated the push before the postseason and discussed objectives in the next few practices.

The teams need “to get some better physical conditioning, that’s really important at the end of the season,” Wilcox said. “If you’re in tip-top shape you can beat a lot of people.”

The coach is confident in his grapplers, and is optimistic about the girls’ chances in the postseason.

“I think we have a good chance, on the girls’ end of it, to take three [wrestlers] to State,” Wilcox said.