High school wrestling preview: Orting aims for 2A four-peat, returns four state champions
Quentin Harding entered Orting wrestling’s press room smiling ear-to-ear despite the double splint securing his right hand’s middle and ring fingers. A gruesome Dec. 18 injury at practice resulted in a compound fracture of both, held together only by nails and cuticles, and potentially threatened the remainder of the defending three-time state champion’s senior campaign.
Harding shook his head profusely. Nobody — doctors, coaches, family — would keep him off the mat in his quest for a fourth.
“I’m gonna wrestle no matter what,” Harding insisted Monday. “I don’t care. I’m going to find a doctor that will tell me I can wrestle. I don’t care how bad they [fingers] hurt. I’m gonna wrestle.”
Harding visited a doctor the next day and was told he could return to full wrestling activity in two weeks, well ahead of postseason competition and state qualification. Exactly the news he wanted.
He’s part of an ongoing wrestling dynasty in Orting: the Cardinals captured a three-peat last February with a third consecutive team state title at the Tacoma Dome’s Mat Classic XXXV, one for each of Harding’s first three high-school seasons. Winning is all he knows.
“It’s the expectation now,” he said.
The well-oiled machine that is the Cardinals program just keeps humming. Orting won its first-ever Tri-State meet in Idaho last month, setting an all-time tournament record in team points (312). The Cardinals fended off perhaps their top in-state competition with a narrow win over Toppenish over the holiday break, 33-32, which rose to join Orting in 2A this season. Just last week, the Cardinals sent three wrestlers (Arcadius Cruz, Levi DiCugno, Alan Salguero Jr.) to the prestigious Doc Buchanan Invitational in California; Cruz and DiCugno earned eighth-place medals.
Of Orting’s five individual state champions in 2024, four return with plans to repeat (or four-peat). Multiple seniors are responsible for three first-place trophies — so why not four?
“Everyone’s ready to win a fourth one,” DiCugno said Monday, seated next to Cruz in the Orting press room. “It’s cool that every year I’ve been here, we’re winning it. It’d be a little weird to not win it.”
Cruz smiled. “We have a team to go get it, too.”
There’s a sense of pride in the Orting wrestling room, a desire to uphold the standard set before them with plenty of motivation to sustain it. Some 70 wrestlers (50 boys, 20 girls) are keeping the dynasty alive, including the four returning 2024 champions: Dominic Thomas (113), Salguero Jr. (126), Harding (138), and DiCugno (175). Also back are sophomores Laithan Lawson and Ty Satiacum Jr., state runners-up at last February’s Mat Classic XXXV.
“Every guy wants to be the best version of themselves,” Harding said. “We just try to push each other.
“Everyone in here can be a state champ. It doesn’t matter if I’m going to wrestle the 106 … everyone in here’s one of the top guys in their weight. That’s how we push each other to get better.”
Cruz, a freshman, was pushed and mentored years before. He’s the younger brother of state-champion Orting wrestlers Alexander and Apollo Cruz and the son of Brandon Cruz, the longtime coach of Orting’s Junior Wrestling program. In 2018, Alexander became the third wrestler in school history to capture four individual state titles.
“I always had someone to work out with me,” Arcadius said Monday. “They tell me what I’m doing wrong in my matches because they wrestle differently, so they give me tips on how they wrestle, too.”
The majority of Orting’s top wrestlers share a similar story. Among the posters and banners in the school’s practice room are team rosters and portraits of the junior programs each year, where a younger Cruz, Harding, and Thomas are recognizable (among dozens more). Some joined the program by kindergarten, watching high-school practices and being included in the day-to-day activities of high-level wrestling. No wonder they’re beasts by ninth grade.
Harding pointed to the team’s ongoing practice around the corner: “Same kids that are in here? We’ve been beating each other up since we were little,” he laughed. “Just always growing up together and (Coach) Cruz speaking good mindsets into us.”
So how are the state’s elite improving their craft these days? Still recovering from his fractured fingers, Harding turned focus to strength training. Cruz has prioritized stamina for longer bouts. DiCugno’s working to protect his left leg and improving stamina to keep up with an aggressive style. Trevor Anderson, an undefeated sophomore (19-0) with one loss in his high-school career, dove for too many shots last season and wants to perfect the set-up.
“I always try to work just as hard as (Quentin Harding), because I think he’s the hardest worker in the room,” Anderson said. “He helps me a lot, keeps me focused.”
Still remaining on Orting’s regular season schedule is the Dick Pruett Memorial Tournament at Kent-Meridian High School on Jan. 11 and the Flowing Wells Invitational in Tuscon, Arizona, on Jan. 17-18. The WIAA Mat Classic XXXVI at the Tacoma Dome looms from Feb. 20-22.
“I don’t think they expect anything else,” Coleman said. “These guys believe they’re going to win state. They just don’t know anything else.”
Only 18 wrestlers in the state’s history completed the elusive feat of winning four individual state championships. Three of them hail from Orting High: Drew Templeman (2009-12), Fred Green (2012-15), and Alexander Cruz (2015-18). Harding and Salguero Jr. hope to add to that total.
“Since I’ve been little, I’ve always wanted four (titles),” Harding said. “That’s always been the goal. (Winning) one? Super exciting. Two? Super exciting. But every single time, I know it’s a stepping stone closer to that fourth.”
AROUND THE SOUND
▪ The Tahoma Bears won last year’s 4A team title with tournament records in points (193.5) and podium finishers (12), and Coleman says they’re even better in 2025. With a top-to-bottom roster resembling the dynasty brewing in Orting, Chris Feist’s Bears are the clear 4A leader in early state rankings ahead of Mead and Skyview.
Tahoma sophomore Owen Marshall (126 pounds) and freshman Brycen Dawley (113) won individual championships at last month’s Tri-State meet in Idaho; both are the state’s top 4A wrestlers in their weight class.
Also back is Tahoma’s lone individual 4A champion from Mat Classic XXXV: 120-pound junior Crew Lambro, who finished fourth in his class at Tri-State last month. 132-pounder Alex Othon was the Tri-State’s runner-up and rolled to the championship match with Orting’s Thomas.
▪ Three Sumner Spartans sit atop the state’s girls wrestling leader board in early rankings of their respective classes: Bailee Wagner (105), Abigail Worhatch (125) and Saige McCleery (130). Other locals atop the rankings include Stadium junior Addison Werner (105), Kentwood’s Dayna Vi (190) and Kennedy Catholic’s Kanora Diederichs (235).
The 170 leaderboard features three South Sound locals at the top, including the previous two state champions from the class: Curtis junior Ryley Nager (2023 champ), Graham-Kapowsin’s Selena Mares-Castro (2024) and Tahoma’s Zalane Hulitt.
This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
