Something extra

There is no secret why the University Titans won their first team state high school wrestling championship during Mat Classic XVII last weekend in Tacoma. This, coach Don Owen has said over and over, was a special group of athletes.

“I’d love to take the credit, but I’m telling you what,” Owen said, “I think a farmer in the Palouse would have had a pretty good chance of bringing home a state title with these kids.”

And though the state title may have come on the third weekend in February, it’s genesis goes back to the team awards banquet a year earlier when returning Titans listened to and bought in when Owen detailed how they were going to become team champions.

The next day, he said, 35 were in the wrestling room when the Pigdog Wrestling Club was formed for spring and summer freestyle competition. The preparation had begun. The result was 10 state qualifiers – some of them expected, some unlikely – and nine state placers.

As assistant coach Dave Orndorf put it, “They were the ones who decided they wanted to do this way back when. They were the ones who put in the work.”

Still, conversations with people who either observed, followed or were directly involved with the Titans resulted in a similar conclusion. Don Owen deserves at least some of that credit.

The wrestlers, they said, are involved in the kind of program conducive to success.

Scott Jones, whose Class 2A Lakeside Eagles won their fourth title in the last 13 years, said you can see on the mat that U-Hi has the necessary direction and discipline of a standout wrestling team.

“Don’s got a great system without a doubt,” Jones said.

And Central Valley coach John Owen, whose youngest son Brian became the 10th individual in U-Hi history to win a state championship, said the title did not surprise him.

He had even predicted the championship for his brother before the season even started.

“I’m happy for Donnie,” he said. “He puts a lot of work in. He’s tireless at that.”

But last weekend, when U-Hi became the last of the four Valley schools to win a state wrestling tournament, the topic went back to the athletes and a family atmosphere inherent in this year’s program.

“To be honest with you,” said Don Owen, whose wrestlers have produced 16 individual titles, and numerous other team awards over his head coaching career, “I didn’t know if I’d ever coach a state championship team.”

But he sensed a chemistry from the beginning of the season that he hadn’t experienced in two-plus decades of coaching.

“This team had something extra about it,” he said. “They are great friends with one another. These kids are a little bit goofy, sometimes. But they can work really hard, drive each other and still have a great time. They can have fun and still compete hard.”

The nucleus was obviously there. In 2004 five wrestlers, either juniors or sophomores, gained experience as state qualifiers. Cory Fish won a state title at 103 pounds, Jeremy Montang was third at 130, and Trevor Robb finished sixth at 125.

As is Titan custom, Owen wrestled nearly two teams-worth of athletes on varsity, giving him the luxury of depth during the regular season and in some weights, two tournament-worthy competitors.

U-Hi swept the GSL, outscoring its nine opponents 492-111 for a nearly 55-12 average victory margin.

They won or tied four of five invitational tournaments during the year, dominated district with a record 462 points and qualifying an amazing 20 wrestlers to regional.

“At Tri-State we had a minor bump when we tied Lake Stevens,” said freshman Brian Owen, just after he supplanted Fish as the state 103-pound champion.

They suffered another bump at regional when state veterans Robb, Jon Sahlberg and Mike Malsam were upset and 275-pound district champion Dono Totten, injured in practice, could not go on. Still the team advanced half its performers to state.

“I really believed we were going to win it,” Don Owen said. “I knew anything could happen, but I just believed in the kids.”

A sign that it was meant to be came in junior 112-pounder Chase Fish’s first match. Fish, who would go on to place third, was trailing by six points with time running out.

“He was losing to a kid he’d beat dang near every time out, but had that 10-yards-to-go-with-a-10-foot-rope look on his face.”

Fish turned his opponent and was still trailing by a point with Owen yelling to cut him loose and take him down. Two seconds later Fish had a pin.

“You know there’s somebody upstairs maybe looking after you,” Owen said.

As the tourney played out, Cory Fish added his second title, this one at 119 pounds, and Montang, stuck in a rugged 140-pound weight, placed third for the second year.

And then there were the come-throughs by five wrestlers, semifinalists Matt Machala, fourth at 130 pounds, and Joey Korn, sixth at 189, Nick Zumwalt, seventh at 160, and 145-pounders Tyler Goss and Tim Owen, who after losing their first-round matches, rallied back for sixth and seventh places, respectively, to help put U-Hi over the top by 17 points over Lake Stevens. Elliott Nay, a sophomore, didn’t place but upset a No. 1 seed in his first match to add a team point.

“A lot of them aren’t loaded with talent,” Don Owen said, “but what they lack in talent they make up for with the size of their heart.”

Korn, loyal to the program for four years, was a surprise. Owen told him before state he had to be in the top six in state, and he delivered.

“We just worked really hard and put in the extra hours,” said Korn. “We set our sights high, and it paid off. It was amazing. I’d never been there before. The Tacoma Dome was huge, but I felt prepared for it.”

Tim Owen missed two years of wrestling with a congenital chest malformation that required the insertion of a bar to correct. Yet there he was, getting to be a contributor to his dad’s first team title.

“For me to share a state championship with my son might be as good as it gets,” Don Owen said. “Two years ago I got to share a softball state championship with my daughter, Molly. These are magical moments. Who knows how they come together, but the good Lord has been good to me.”