Orting boys, White River girls in the hunt for team state titles at Mat Classic
These days, Orting High School wrestling coach Jody Coleman’s beard goes down to his chest and his hair falls past his shoulders and onto his back. When the coronavirus pandemic started nearly two years ago, the normally clean-cut coach told family and friends he wasn’t going to cut it until the pandemic ended.
“I thought it would be like three months,” Coleman said, laughing.
Oh, how naive we all were. He’s finally going to bring the clippers out on March 21, the day the indoor mask mandate will officially end in Washington. Of course, few reasonable people would have predicted the eventual duration of the pandemic and its far-reaching effects into every aspect of life, including the cancellation of last year’s Mat Classic.
After a one-year absence, the state wrestling meet made its return to the Tacoma Dome on Friday night. Although masks were still required to be worn by everyone not wrestling on a mat, it was another milestone in the state’s return to normalcy.
“It feels good to be here, feels almost normal,” Coleman said. “All the kids are excited to be back, on every team. It’s just something that should always happen.”
Masks aside, everything looked and felt like a routine Mat Classic on Saturday, as wrestlers across all the state’s classifications took part in matches across mats stretched out across the entire Tacoma Dome floor.
As expected, Orting had a good day, finishing atop the team standings with 91.5 points, leading second-place W.F. West (80) and third-place Othello (78.5). The Cardinals are loaded with talent all over, notably with underclassmen in the lower weights. Senior Owen Cline, the senior leader of a young, ultra-talented team, is one of six Orting wrestlers who will move on to Saturday’s semifinal round. Cline won his quarterfinal match when his opponent, Lakewood’s Punchy O’Hara, had to withdraw with an injury, though Cline was in full control before the injury.
“I really hate to see that happen,” Cline said of the injury. “That’s the end of this year for him and it sucks to happen at state, but really, I just want to wrestle. I feel bad and everything, but I came out with a win and did it. … It feels great. I just feel like I just expect it. God has a plan for me, I really think he does. I just feel so blessed for the opportunity to come out here every single day.”
The Cardinals send six through to the semis: Freshman Alan Salguero Jr. (106), freshman Quentin Harding (113), sophomore Apollo Cruz (120), sophomore Bryan Dickerson (126), senior Owen Cline (138), and junior Dalton Reed (182),
Cline has been the veteran leader of a team that gained wrestling experience growing up, but is still on the young side in high school years. The underclassmen all look up to Cline, who has set the bar with his work ethic in the mat room.
“Most teams, they have maybe one good guy,” Cline said. “I have a full room of young kids that want to wrestle and listen very well. These kids, I’ll tell them to do something and they’ll do exactly what I say, no matter what I say.”
Having six wrestlers in the semifinals isn’t something that happens every year, even for a program like Orting, which consistently finishes in the top-three of the team standings at Mat Classic.
“I think they’re wrestling really hard,” Coleman said. “They’re wrestling for each other. They wrestled really tough. Six in the front, it’s a good problem to have.”
Having so much talent in the Orting mat room has helped its wrestlers prepare for this moment. Every day, they’re going at each other, making each other stronger.
“We work so hard hard in the room, we deserve it,” Dickerson said. “I just can’t wait to see how we keep moving throughout the tournament. … It’s great because we all push each other, but we all want to build each other in a good way. We’re being tough with each other in the wrestling room but we’re building each other up the whole time.”
In particular, Coleman would love to see Cline win his first state title in his senior year.
“He’s just put in the work,” he said. “He’s done all the right things, so it’d be really neat to see him win a title.”
WHITE RIVER GIRLS IN THE HUNT FOR TEAM TITLE
An official approached Shelby Moore’s dad after her quarterfinal match on Friday night. He’d been officiating high school wrestling for over 50 years, and told him that he’s never seen a wrestler like Moore.
“We hear it a lot,” said White River coach Jason Jackson. “We try to keep it out of her head. But the funny thing is, she doesn’t realize how good she is. She goes through her day and just does what she does and everyone is always patting her on the back and telling her what a great wrestler she is, but she doesn’t realize it. She’s having so much fun, glad to be wrestling and on the mat. She doesn’t even realize what she’s doing.”
Moore’s has achieved a meteoric rise through the sport. She actually took third in her first Mat Classic tournament as a freshman, having only taken up the sport in seventh grade. Since then? She’s won five national titles, beating some of the nation’s top competition in tournaments in Iowa and North Dakota. She’s part of The News Tribune’s 2022 class of Untouchables — the state’s most unbeatable wrestlers — coming into Mat Classic with a 23-0 record. She showed no signs of slowing down on Friday, winning both her matches in the 130-pound weight class by pin.
“It’s been two years since I’ve been here, since my freshman year of state,” Moore said. “I’m just really happy to get the opportunity to come redeem myself, since my freshman year, I took third. I was pretty disappointed about that loss and I’m just excited to get back everything I’ve been working for.”
She’s grown up since then, not just in age and but in maturity and most importantly, wrestling experience.
“My wrestling has grown up a lot,” she said. “I just feel like I’m more mature and can handle my wrestling emotions better than I used to. I really just know how to calm down and wrestle my match now.”
White River currently sits in second place in the team standings with 85.5 points, trailing Toppenish (97 points). The Hornets send four through to the semis: Moore in 130, junior Anna Dicugno (120), junior Nicole Poussier (135) and senior Jalia Williams (170).
Dicugno, like Moore, is searching for her first state title. She’ll face Curtis sophomore Sierra Wangen in the semifinals after pinning both her opponents on Friday. She’s excited seeing White River in the hunt tomorrow for the team title and individual titles.
“I love my team,” she said. “I think coaching is a big part of what makes you good, but I think your team is the biggest part of it. Your practice partners, including the morale and how you support each other. I think that’s something we do really well. We’re always there for each other. It’s so easy to wrestle better when you’re wrestling good girls all the time. It’s so much easier to improve.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 8:48 PM.
