Bethel’s Phillip Springsteen handles Rogers’ Ty Wilson in exciting Class 4A 160-pound finals
Just minutes before the most nerve-racking wrestling moment of his life, Bethel’s Phillip Springsteen watched from the Tacoma Dome floor in utter shock.
His brother, Dante, had just let an opportunity to take home the Class 4A state title at 152 pounds go through his hands — literally in the final seconds. Beamer’s Adrian Avena escaped a sure takedown, and won, 7-5.
Phillip Springsteen’s stomach turned.
And then he responded the only way he knew how — he put his chief rival squarely on his back.
Before this season, Springsteen had never beaten Ty Wilson of Rogers, going as far back as when the two were in youth wrestling.
But the Braves standout won three of the four meetings over the reigning state champion, including the final time by a second-round pin in the 160-pound championship finals of Mat Classic XXVIII on Saturday.
“I felt great,” Springsteen said. “I just felt tired going into it. Dante’s loss got to me a little bit.”
In an action-packed match, Wilson bolted to a 4-0 lead in the first 20 seconds. Springsteen scored the next five points. Both wrestlers were in and out of trouble.
With Wilson holding a 6-5 lead, he had Springsteen in a nasty hold as the two combatants got to their feet.
“He had my neck. I was kind of choking,” Springsteen said. “As I switched to a single-leg (move), I tripped him. He just kind of hit the mat, I guess.”
Wilson crumbled to the mat hard. And Springsteen pounced on him to finish off his first 4A title.
When the Springsteens were kids, their father, Oscar, threatened that if they did not stop tussling with each other in the living room, he would take them down to a club wrestling room.
That is where Phillip met Wilson — with the Puyallup Falcons Recreational Club.
The Springsteens eventually went over to the Bethel All-Stars. Phillip is going to go to the University of Mary (NCAA Division II) to study engineering — and possibly wrestle and pole vault.
In other developments:
▪ Mike Bressler is a big man — and an imposing presence in the Decatur wrestling room.
And earlier this season, he announced he was retiring as the coach after 18 years to move to Omaha, Nebraska, where his wife got a job in hospital administration.
Bressler, who was named the Class 4A state coach of the year, went out in style Saturday night — in the corner of senior Leviticus Arizpe, who captured the 138-pound title with a 7-2 decision over Pasco’s Jake Covington.
Arizpe became the ninth — and final — Decatur wrestler to win a state title under Bressler.
“I told him I was going to put him in those (championship finals) slacks one more time. I really wanted him to get dressed up,” Arizpe said. “I love this coach. He deserves it. I wanted him to go out with a bang.”
▪ Here is a name to store away in the brain for future reference: Puyallup junior Josh Franich.
A year ago, the former youth club champion was a state alternate after returning to wrestling after a two-year hiatus.
This year, Franich dominated a tough 132-pound class in 4A, and capped it off with a 9-0 shellacking over Central Valley’s Bridger Beard.
In three postseason tournaments, Franich was never taken down. Earlier on Saturday, he pinned tournament favorite Cam Sorensen, of University, in 2:07.
“I pinned the No. 1 seed … so I am pretty proud of myself,” Franich said. “I felt very confident.”
▪ Kentridge has had three single-time champions in its history. And senior Derek Freitag rewrote the record book Saturday.
Freitag pinned his way through the 113-pound bracket in 4A. It ended with a fall in 4:44 over Sunnyside’s Elias Romero.
He became the Chargers’ first two-time state champion.
“It is just hard work, man,” Freitag said. “Anyone can do that.”
This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 9:23 PM with the headline "Bethel’s Phillip Springsteen handles Rogers’ Ty Wilson in exciting Class 4A 160-pound finals."