Washington Wrestling Report preseason rankings: Lake Stevens No. 1 in 4A

Now that our last local football team (Archbishop Murphy) has been eliminated from the playoffs, I can fully shift my attention to winter sports.

I wonder what incredible stories our area’s basketball, wrestling and boys swimming teams will generate over the next few months. Will the exciting potential of some of those squads translate into statewide superiority?

The local squad with the best chance to snare a state team title this winter might be the always dangerous Lake Stevens Vikings. Coached by Brent Barnes, Lake Stevens is ranked No. 1 in the Washington Wrestling Report Class 4A preseason team rankings. The Vikings are going for their fourth straight team crown after winning it all at Mat Classic in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Three Lake Stevens wrestlers are ranked No. 1 in their 4A respective weight classes: Senior Josh Heinzer (119 pounds), sophomore Steven Walkley (135 pounds) and senior Jacob Anderson (145 pounds). Heinzer is a two-time individual state champion.

Here are links to all of the Washington Wrestling Report preseason rankings (team and individual, as of Nov. 28).

*Team rankings
*All-classification individual rankings
*Class 4A individual rankings
*Class 3A individual rankings
*Class 2A individual rankings
*Class 1A individual rankings
*Class 2B individual rankings
*All-classification girls individual rankings