Who has the toughest wrestling room in the state? South Kitsap, White River stake claim after winning Mat Classic titles

Tim Kitchen was up at his usual 5 a.m. Saturday.

He poured himself a cup of coffee.

And he put on his charcoal-colored championship coaching suit for Mat Classic XXX.

“I wasn’t waiting for the finals,” he said.

And neither did his record-setting White River Hornets wrestlers in nailing down the Class 2A team crown in the Tacoma Dome.

Coming into Saturday, it was going to take a near-flawless effort from a chasing school to track down the Hornets.

Instead, White River sent six of its wrestlers to the championship finals, and easily clinched its first state championship since 1995.

It was an even longer wait for another local — South Kitsap. The Wolves won their first Mat Classic title in any classification by breaking away from a tight 4A pack late in the morning session.

As much as defending 3A champion Bonney Lake did, Mount Spokane did just a little bit more in scoring the second-most points. Kelso scored 197.5 in 2006.

Three more standout wrestlers — Bonney Lake’s Brandon Kaylor (3A at 120 pounds) and Orting’s Alex Cruz (2A at 138) on the boys’ side, and Davis’ Cameron Guerin (girls’ 125) — added their names to the elite list of four-time Mat Classic champions.

Guerin defeated rival Mya Spencer, of Ephrata, in the state finals to become the first girl to post an undefeated career (126-0).

And seven of The News Tribune’s eight “Untouchables” members — the three four-timers, plus Colville’s Trent Braun (1A at 125), Stanwood’s Mason Phillips (3A at 145), Lincoln’s JJ Dixon (3A at 195) and Tahoma’s Kione Gill (4A at 220) — captured state championships this weekend.

Kitchen knows the Mat Classic deal quite well. He was a state champion at Wilson High School in the 1990s.

Last May, after former coach Joe Klein stepped down, he was promoted to take over the reins at White River.

Kitchen assembled a quality coaching staff that included former Hornets’ state champion Anthony Haukenberry, as well as Ruben Navejas Jr. (Kentwood) and Jess Workman (Lincoln), who also won state titles.

They knew they had something special brewing with this group this season, but carefully made sure not to overload the wrestlers with a lot of live practicing or tournaments early on.

And over the past two weeks, Kitchen said, “it became like a college wrestling room” at school.

“I guarantee it is the toughest (wrestling room) in Washington state, no doubt.,” Hornets sophomore Gabe Hawthorne said.

The Hornets essentially blew away defending champion Toppenish and 2A SPSL rival Orting by advancing six wrestlers to the finals Saturday. Eleven of their 12 wrestlers earned state places. And they set the tournament scoring record by becoming the first school to eclipse 200 points.

Hawthorne got White River off and running in the championship round with the first of the team’s 3A titles, corralling a wild 16-9 decision over Toppenish’s Alexei Rubio at 132.

Then came the ultimate birthday wish for a teenager in Port Orchard.

Born on Feb. 17, which was Saturday, Emily Nass had one anniversary request from her father, Chad: Bring home the 4A title.

And the Wolves blew out the birthday candles on that team race well before the championship finals.

They put four wrestlers in the finals. And they won nine of 10 consolation-bracket matches to turn their close battle with Mead and Tahoma into a runaway rout.

Eight of their nine wrestlers ended up placing in the top four in their respective brackets.

“There are no hidden secrets — these are kids who wrestled for each other,” said Chad Nass, the Wolves’ coach. “You are wrestling for your family.”

In the instances of the Eaglin siblings, they were competing with family.

And even though senior Mason Eaglin finally got that elusive state title at 172, he will always have to give the nod to his ninth-grade brother, Xavier, as the first in the family to win a 4A crown.

Eaglin held off favored Chase Randall, of Mead, 9-8, in the 106 finals.

“I actually mentioned that before my match to Mason, that if I win, I would be a champion before you,” Xavier said. “I knew I had to beat him.”

Bonney Lake coach Dan Pitsch shared conflicting emotions over the Panthers’ runner-up finish to Mount Spokane for the 3A title.

The Panthers made a mini run in the championship round by getting wins from ninth grader Yusief Lillie at 106 (technical fall in 3:10 over Bethel’s Donnie Krissak), junior Brenden Chaowanapiboo at 113 (fall in 5:59 over Mount Spokane’s Jarret Sharp) and Kaylor at 120 (6-3 decision over Kelso’s Bryce Miller) to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 171-165.5.

But Mount Spokane clinched it with Blake Haney, who earned a 7-2 decision over Bonney Lake’s Evan Tracy in the 126 finals.

Oddly enough, even though the Panthers came out on the short end of it, they scored more points than last year’s 3A title run.

“This was the best state tournament I have ever coached in,” Pitsch said. “You could not have asked more from them.”

For Kaylor, he leaves as the 16th boy to win four Mat Classic crowns. And he sees another four-peat candidate in his own room in Lillie.

“I am expecting a lot. I want them (Lillie and Chaowanapiboo, a two-time state champion) to be the best, and continue to win,” Kaylor said. “It will be hard for them without me as their senior leader, but that is when it comes to maturity levels and doing what they do best — grinding and winning on the mat.”

Not to be outdone by his close pal, Cruz became the 17th boy to complete the four-timer feat with a 13-0 win over Olympic’s Alec Acfalle in the 138 finals.

“It has been a great journey,” Cruz said. “It goes by so fast. I am trying to take it all in right now.”

Guerin’s journey in this sport has been nothing short of extraordinary. She closed her high-school chapter with a dominating 14-0 victory over Ephrata’s Mya Spencer in the girls’ 125 championship match.

Now, it is to an off day Sunday of eating chocolate, doughnuts and chowder back home in Yakima.

“For sure, this has been a blessing,” Guerin said. “This is motivation to keep getting better.”

This story was originally published February 17, 2018 at 8:13 PM with the headline "Who has the toughest wrestling room in the state? South Kitsap, White River stake claim after winning Mat Classic titles."