North Side wrestlers, gymnast make history

To call the North Side of Spokane a hotbed of high school wrestling may be understating the fact.

Last weekend during Mat Classic XX, the multiclassification state championships in Tacoma, schools from the area brought home two team championships, nine individual titles and numerous other trophies.

Class 1A Lakeside added to its legend by winning its sixth team title with unprecedented dominance in near-record fashion. Deer Park did what no other Stags team in any sport had in school history by winning the 2A classification.

Riverside’s Ryan DesRoches capped his career with a third-straight state 2A title and Mead’s Philip Smith, in 4A brought home the first Panthers individual win in six years.

All told there were 29 top-eight finishers from seven North Side schools in four different enrollment classifications.

These are the highlights:

Lakeside’s stunning effort

As Saturday’s state finals began to unfold, first-year coach Troy Hughes put it all in perspective.

“They say that steel sharpens steel,” Hughes said. “Their (his wrestlers’) biggest battles have been in the room against each other. There are good guys all over the place who really care and are working for the same thing. When that occurs, amazing things can happen.”

From the competitors to the coaches to the community dating back to the beginning in the early 1990s under Scott Jones, the Nine Mile Falls school has built a program that has fed on previous successes.

But never had anything like last weekend transpired. Nine wrestlers reached the 1A state finals, which may be unprecedented. There were two repeat champions, Jacob Lauderdale and Reid Chivers and three first-time winners. The team scored 233 points, second most in state history.

“It’s been my pleasure just to have the opportunity to coach them,” said Hughes, who won state at Mead in 1995, two years before the Eagles won their first title.

They added four more championships and two second places between 1998 and 2006 as a 2A school before dropping back to 1A last year.

“The guys have been working for this starting the week after the season ended,” said Hughes, of Lakeside’s push to grab the gold ring again. “For some it started when they were little kids, attending intensive camps and traveling to tournaments. Some guys had two workouts a day.”

Kyle Johnson was a state runner-up both as a freshman and sophomore, but last year settled on third. This year he settled for nothing less than No. 1. Conditioning came from running. He was a state track distance placer and finished third in cross country. Strength came from morning sessions in the weight room. The results carried over into his 135-pound title. Wes McAdam and Dustin Baldwin, second last year, took the final step.

“I really think we deserved it,” said Johnson. “We all put in the work in and out of season. We pushed each other to do our best.”

A Deer Park first

The highest finishes by a Deer Park athletic team in state competition were second places in volleyball and wrestling.

Until last weekend.

Nine Stags brought home trophies, including champions Drew Acorn (103) and Cody Miller (152). Six others placed in the top four.

There to witness it was former coach Dean Largent who had a state runner-up team and last weekend was inducted into the Washington Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame. He still coaches the middle school and recommended his one-time assistant, Matt Jorgensen, for the high school job when it opened.

Deer Park was second last year before winning it all in Tacoma.

And the good news? Seven of Deer Park’s state placers are back next year and get to do this all over again.

The sterling career of Riverside’s DesRoches came to an end with his third straight state title. In his final go-around in Tacoma, DesRoches was dominating. He pinned all four of his opponents never going beyond the second round. And the Rams fulfilled their goal of a top four finish and team trophy that had been a long time coming.

Uncanny Smith prevails

Coaches marvel at the way Mead’s Smith can get out of seemingly impossible predicaments and turn them into scoring opportunities.

“He has unbelievable hips. They’re swivel hips. He’s one tough guy to wrestle,” said his coach Phil McLean.

That was the case again in the 125-pound finals of 4A state when try as he might, Snohomish’s Sam Ottow couldn’t keep him down. Smith countered one such scoring attempt with a third-period takedown to win 5-4.

Victory left Smith overwhelmed and in tears.

“I’ve never really been the fastest,” he said. “I think I’ve adapted my body type to a different style of wrestling.”

His only losses this year, three, were to Brian Owen, University’s 130-pound champion who failed to make weight at 125 during district and was allowed to move up.

“That was one of my saving graces in the tournament,” Smith allowed.

In 3A, Mt. Spokane’s Scott medaled again and first-year NC coach Luke Leifer had a good start with pair of medalists. Berlinger is a freshman and Brown a sophomore.

Wildcat state champ

Mt. Spokane gymnast Meghan Ballou, in her first year with the high school team, was State 3A balance beam champion during last weekend’s competition in the Tacoma Dome. Ballou recorded a 9.5 score.