Written by Anna Tupper-Bridges of The Wa-Hi Journal
Published: March 2, 2010

Emily Petri for The Wa-Hi Journal.
Junior Wyatt Wilks.

The Pacific Northwest Amateur Hockey Association named junior Wyatt Wilks one of the best six hockey defensemen in Washington State in his age group.

Teams from around the state gathered in Wenatchee to compete for this honor. "I'm pretty excited because I didn't think I would make it ... I just played hard and had fun," Wilks said.

Currently, Wilks plays for the Tri-Cities Americans Junior team. He first played hockey at the YWCA Ice Chalet in Walla Walla but has played on the Tri-Cities team for the past three years. He travels to the Tri-Cities every other day to practice with the team for four hours.

On April 29, he will travel to Kent, Wash., to compete against other hockey players from Alaska, California, Nevada and Oregon. The top players of this group will attend the national USA Hockey camps.