After surprising trip to Mat Classic, Gig Harbor wrestler Zeitner more aggressive this winter
Last year, as a sophomore wrestler at Gig Harbor High School, Trevor Zeitner just wanted to qualify for regionals.
He had missed the first half of the season with illness and injuries. When he returned, he quickly went on a tear, taking second in league and fourth in regionals, qualifying for the Mat Classic state tournament at the Tacoma Dome.
“He came into the season as kind of an underdog, because he hadn’t even wrestled all season,” said Gig Harbor coach Jacob Spadoni. “He took a lot of people by surprise. We hadn’t seen him wrestle all season, so we only remembered the Trevor from the previous season. And it was just like a completely different human. That was kind of cool to see.”
Zeitner, like most high school freshmen, was trying to figure everything out. While he’s wrestled since third grade, adjusting to the physicality and skill of high school wrestling took some time. But he took a leap during his sophomore season once he returned to the mat.
“A lot of what I did was go to summer stuff,” Zeitner said. “I did freestyle. I went to different camps. I just learned how to wrestle more. I was more prepared. I was working hard to just get to state and I got there.”
Unfortunately for Zeitner, he got paired with Stanwood High 145-pound state champion Mason Phillips in the first round, one of the top wrestlers in not just the state, but in the entire country. That loss was a learning experience for Zeitner, to say the least.
“You kind of just don’t really know what’s happening,” Zeitner said. “You think you’re doing something, but in reality, you’re just getting handled. But it’s a cool experience. I know what I can achieve, to try to get to his level in the end.”
Zeitner lost his next match in state to Eastside Catholic’s Dustin Johnson. But those matches were a building block for Zeitner, who has posted a 16-7 record this season and took first at the North Mason tournament in the 160-pound weight class, beating North Mason’s Daniel Pulley in the finals.
Zeitner’s active style on the match is often a different look for opponents.
“He’s funky,” Spadoni said. “He’s very active. He’s very difficult to wrestle. He doesn’t wrestle in that normal box that people wrestle in. He’s a very outside-of-the-box wrestler.”
Zeitner has focused on using that activeness and channeling it into a more aggressive approach this year.
“I wrestle fast and loose,” Zeitner said. “I’m able to shoot more this year. I never shot before. Now, I’m taking shots. That’s really helped me. I’m not concerned with winning or losing. I try to perform the best that I can. If I lose a match but I think there wasn’t much I could do to change the outcome, I’m happy.”
In addition to his more assertive approach, Spadoni said Zeitner’s natural feel on the mat makes him a matchup issue.
“You think of that football IQ, where you kind of just know what to do,” Spadoni said. “It’s the same thing in wrestling. He just kind of knows where to go. Wrestling in the unknown, when you shoot in and the guy sprawls, he knows exactly what to do without any coaching. Those things are just hard to teach. You can teach how to do the move perfectly, but once something goes wrong, you don’t really know what to do. And he’s the guy that knows exactly what to do.”
Zeitner is aiming to drop down to 145 in time for the postseason, and hopes a top-eight placing is in the cards this winter at the Mat Classic state tournament at the Tacoma Dome.
“That’s the next step for me,” Zeitner said. “I just have to be able to focus in on the smallest things. I think I have all the broad aspects of wrestling, I just have to start fixing the small things. It’s the little things in the end that really matter in those important matches. I think if I can hit that point, I can make it to state and place.”