Mat Classic: Four times the charm

Jimmy Belleville has all the confidence you’d expect from a three-time state wrestling champion. The Black Hills High School senior says that when he steps onto the mat, he believes he’s going to win.

But as Belleville prepared earlier this week for Mat Classic XXI – which begins at 10 a.m. today at the Tacoma Dome – he did admit to being in the dark about one aspect of his impending matches.

“I know I’ll beat them all,” Belleville said of his opponents. “It’s just how I’ll do it.”

Whether by pin, technical fall or major decision, if Belleville works his way through the Class 2A 160-pound bracket and claims the title, he will become only the fifth wrestler in state history to be a four-time state champion.

Black Hills coach Mark Grindstaff has known Belleville since he began coaching him as a 4-year-old when he wrestled for Grindstaff’s Team Perpetual Motion wrestling club. Back then, Grindstaff said, the 4-year-old Belleville would “kick the crap out of 8-year-olds.”

“He was saying he was going to win four state titles ever since he knew what it meant,” Grindstaff said. “He sees himself winning every match. He just doesn’t like losing and he doesn’t worry about losing.”

Belleville has compiled a record of 36-2 this season, giving the future University of Wyoming wrestler a four-year mark of 162-8. Both losses came at the Reno Tournament of Champions where Belleville reached the quarterfinals before losing a pair of matches by one point, 15-14 and 10-9, and placing fifth.

Since then, Belleville has cruised through dual meets, tournaments and the postseason, and is on the cusp of making history. While he has total confidence – some might say it borders on cockiness – in his abilities, Belleville respects his opponents.

“There’s no such thing as easy,” Belleville said. “If you go into a match thinking it’s going to be easy, it’s not going to be.”

But as Belleville begins his quest for a fourth state championship, at least one coach of a four-time winner says the fourth is often the easiest to win.

Kelso’s Bobby Freund, who coached the most recent four-time champion, Brandon Sitch (2003-06), believes the second and third titles are the most difficult for a variety of reasons.

“I think the third one is the hardest,” he said. “If you look back at history, the third one has upset a lot of kids. By the time they are seniors, they’re pretty confident and know what they’re capable of. The biggest thing is keeping them healthy.”

The other four-time winners were Pat Conners of R.A. Long (1991-94), Martin Mitchell of Tonasket (1998-2001) and Burke Barnes of Lake Stevens (1999-2002).

In the last 11 seasons, three wrestlers – Capital’s Steve McGettrick, University’s Tommy Owens and Columbia River’s Kyle Bounds – failed to win a title in their junior season, but claimed championships in three other years.

Belleville passed through his junior season unscathed, but he did face what might have been his biggest challenge in the finals of the 145-pound division. He went up against fellow two-time state champion Yuder Pech, but dispatched the Toppenish wrestler, 6-3, for his third state crown.

Belleville has maintained his form by searching for good wrestling partners. He sometimes makes the 45-mile drive to Auburn to practice with three-time champion Michael Mangrum and two-time champion Eric Jones. At the Wolves’ practice, Grindstaff said sometimes he’ll put Belleville in the center of the ring and send six different wrestlers into the ring with him, “a fresh guy coming right after another.”

His technique is nearly flawless and his strength is rarely matched. But it’s his “adaptability,” Grindstaff said, that makes him untouchable.

“He can adapt to any situation,” he said. “ ... Some guys will try the same move over and over and over and not have it work. If something doesn’t work for Jimmy, he’ll figure out a different way to beat you. If somebody scores two points on him, he doesn’t care. He’s going to score four.

“If you wrestle him, you feel like you’ve been in a train wreck.”

Doug Pacey: 253-597-8271

blogs.thenewstribune.com/preps

THE UNTOUCHABLES

The News Tribune's annual honor roll of wrestlers to watch at Matt Classic this weekend in the Tacoma Dome

Capsules by Todd Milles, The News Tribune

EFRAIN AGUILAR (119)

Graham-Kapowsin (4A), Junior, 38-0

Now you see him, now you don’t. No wonder teammates have dubbed him “El Gato,” which means “the cat” in Spanish. Rarely does Aguilar get out of position. When he does, his hips allow him to rotate around like a gyroscope, said Eagles coach Scott Stirts. Aguilar won the Pacific Coast Championships in January for the second time. He won the Reno World Championships in 2008, and is a double All-American in freestyle and Greco. The reigning Class 4A, 112-pound champion is 79-1 in his two seasons of wrestling.

JIMMY BELLEVILLE (160)

Black Hills (2A). Senior, 36-2

Belleville will attempt to do what only four Washington wrestlers have done – win four state championships. He has won titles at 103, 125 and 145 pounds. His only losses this season came at the Reno Tournament of Champions, which drew wrestlers from across the country. Belleville, who has a career record of 162-8, will wrestle at Wyoming. “If you wrestle him,” Black Hills coach Mark Grindstaff said, “it feels like you’ve been in a train wreck.”

REID CHIVERS (189)

Bellingham (2A), Senior, 28-0

History is at stake for Chivers this weekend. First, with four wins, he could become the first Mat Classic participant to win three 189 titles in a row, in any classification. If he does, he’d also be the school’s only three-time champion. This season, Chivers has been on a mission, capturing four invitational crowns, including a 2-1 overtime win over fellow Untouchable Jake Swartz in the finals at Pacific Coast. The 2007 Western Junior Regionals winner in Greco holds a 144-17 record all-time for the Red Raiders.

DEREK GARCIA (152)

Sedro-Woolley (3A), Junior, 34-0

The state’s biggest name is already one of the all-time greats, ranked in the top 10 in all the national ranking systems at 152. He’s never lost to a wrestler from Washington, capturing Mat Classic titles at 125 (2007) and 140 (2008). But Garcia has bigger things in mind than being a possible four-in-a-row candidate for 2010. In March, the three-time national champion will return to train at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Oklahoma State leads the short list of colleges he’s considering. As his coach Jay Breckenridge put it, “He’s one of those who will go deep in the big-boy world of wrestling.”

J.J. GUBLER (140)

Republic (B), Senior, 33-1

No one person has had a better view of the Tigers’ ascension in Class B wrestling than Gubler, who was a 9-year-old team manager when his father, Jim, took over the program. Since 2002, Republic has crowned 13 state titleholders, none more accomplished than this senior. He is a three-time Region II champion, and with previous Class B titles at 119 (2007) and 135 (last season), is vying to join Jordan Hancock (2006-08) as the school’s only three-time winners. His only loss this season was to Idaho’s Brandon Richardson in the Tri-State finals. Has a 141-11 career mark.

JACOB LAUDERDALE (125)

Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls (1A), Senior, 38-0

Don’t let the small school fool you, this dynamo has big-time ability. He clinched titles at three of the region’s elite invitationals – Tri-State (Idaho), Rocky Mountain Rumble (Utah) and Pacific Northwest Classic (Spokane) – and his relentless attacking earned him MVP nods at two of those (Tri-State, Rocky Mountain). The two-time USA Wrestling honorable mention All-American is 139-10 for his high school career, including state titles at 112 and 119. He is choosing between Boise State and Oregon State.

TAYLOR MEEKS (171)

Orting (1A), Junior, 31-0

The Cardinals are Class 1A favorites this weekend at Mat Classic with 16 participants, none better than this undefeated standout. Meeks, the defending 1A champion at 160, captured the 171 title at the prestigious Rocky Mountain Rumble in January, beating the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 ranked wrestlers from Utah en route to the victory. The tireless teenager comes out of the Orting Cougars junior program, and is a six-time state freestyle champion. He has a 121-5 career record, and has given an oral commitment to Oregon State.

JAKE SWARTZ (189)

Auburn (4A), Senior, 33-1

After Swartz collected a second Mat Classic crown in 2008, he had an important decision to make: Cut weight to stay in that 171 class, or bulk up and go to 189. He chose the latter, and has been nearly unstoppable, with four tournament titles this season. Even after his lone controversial defeat to Bellingham’s Reid Chivers, he is still Washington’s highest-ranked wrestler nationally by Wrestling USA Magazine (No. 5 at 189). He is 113-3 the past three seasons under coach John Aiken, and plans to join his brother, Kurt, at Boise State.

MAT CLASSIC XXI, Friday-Saturday at the Tacoma Dome

Today: Session I begins at 10 a.m.; Session II, including quarterfinals and consolation rounds, begins at 4 p.m. Saturday: Session III, including semifinals and consolation rounds, begins at 10 a.m.; Session IV finals, begins at 5:15 p.m.

Tickets: Single day: $14 adults, $10 seniors and students with ASB. Two days: $22 adults, $16 seniors, students with ASB. Children under age 5 admitted free.