The Peninsula High School wrestling team isn’t built for sustained success in dual meets at the moment, but the Seahawks looked razor-sharp in last Thursday’s Class 3A South Puget Sound League finale against the Lakes Lancers.

Peninsula cruised to a 58-18 victory over visiting Lakes, its second dual-meet win of the season, and the only points the Seahawks gave up were due to three forfeited matches.

The Hawks won all nine contested weight classes, including six by pin, and two wrestlers successfully returned to the mat after prolonged absences.

Ryan Valley opened the night with a 26-second pin of Tino Nieves in the 126-pound match, a special accomplishment considering the junior hadn’t competed since he injured his back at the HammerHead Invitational in Silverdale in mid-December.

“I just took some time to make sure it was healed, and finally I started making my comeback this last week,” Valley said. “I just eased into it, and now I’m feeling good.”

Although his training has been light since the injury, Valley rode an exercise bike and kept in decent shape. He thinks he’s still in good position to earn his first trip to the Mat Classic state tournament, and he plans to drop to the 120-pound division for the postseason.

He also credits Peninsula coach Mark Nickels for making incremental improvements in the team’s techniques.

“He sees things we’re struggling on with matches, and he picks up on those,” Valley said. “And we seem to be spending a lot of time on our feet, making sure we get all these takedowns.”

The Hawks’ top freshman, Tommy Foreman, was out of commission for the past few weeks with an illness, but he made a triumphant return in the night’s final match when he earned an 8-5 decision over Andrew Ramirez at 120 pounds.

The victory was especially sweet for Foreman because Ramirez had beaten him 11-6 in the championship match of the HammerHead’s 113-pound division.

“I want to say I just fought harder than I did at HammerHead,” Foreman said. “After the HammerHead, I was super-sick, and now I’m just fully ready, and went at him.”

In between Valley’s and Foreman’s victories, Peninsula was just as dominant.

At 132, Zach Goddard needed just 1 minute, 4 seconds to pin CJ Faust, and 138-pound senior Tyler Allen, wrestling for the final time at home, pinned Kevionne Robbins at 1:54.

Jake Ricco (152) took charge of Mac Downing from the opening whistle, earning a quick takedown and patiently riding him out before he completed the pin at 1:14.

Zane Holland (170) picked up a 6-1 decision over Paul Getchell, earning takedowns in each of the three rounds. PJ Hilley (106) needed only 1:36 to pin Mark Martinez, and Darrian Hanshew (113) recovered from a 4-3 deficit to pin Lukas Reinhardt at 3:17.

Casey Larson (145) and Hector Medina (182) won by forfeit for the Seahawks, and Robert Dingman (195), Nathan Kalloch (220) and Kiyrie Simmons (285) did the same for the Lancers.

Peninsula’s other winner was 160-pound freshman Luke Holsinger, who nearly pinned Aramis Johnson on a couple occasions before he settled for a 12-2 major decision.

The Seahawks will open the postseason on Friday with the West Central sub-district tournament at Auburn Mountainview High School, and Holsinger has high hopes.

“My first high-school season started off slow, and then it speeded up a lot at the end, and I’m looking for a good postseason,” he said.

Holsinger said his main focus is “just getting to be a better overall wrestler.” He knows he’s got a tough road to hoe just to reach the district meet, as four of the state’s top 10 in the Washington Wrestling Report rankings are in the SPSL.

“I feel like wrestling at 160 is going to make me better later in (my career), even if I want to go to a lower weight,” he said.

Sports Editor Neil Pierson can be reached at 253-853-9246 or by email at neil.pierson@gateline.com. Follow him on Twitter, @gateway_neil.