Siblings with a plan

For East Valley High School wrestling brothers Jake and Gabe Rodriguez, this weekend in the Tacoma Dome is all about stepping up.

For the first time, both are entered in the state Class 3A tournament. For the 130-pound Gabe, a junior and a three-year starter for the Knights, Mat Classic XXI is his first. Senior Jake is at state for the third straight year and is a returning placer.

“The thing that I learned from being there before was that you have to treat the state tournament as just another wrestling tournament,” Jake said. “We’ve wrestled in tougher tournaments this year. We wrestled at Tri-State and that’s a tougher field. And we went to a huge tournament in Reno that was incredibly tough.

“You can’t get caught up in it all. You just have to go out there and wrestle your match.”

If all goes according to plan, each brother will step up and help a talented group of eight East Valley wrestlers win as many team points as possible. In doing so, each will step onto the medal podium when the last match ends – preferably with each wrestling in that state final match.

“It was great watching my brother wrestle at state and come home with a medal last year,” Gabe admitted. “But I decided then and there that I was going to do it myself this year.”

Each brother finds himself where he is, in part, thanks to teammate Chris Triplett, himself a returning state finalist.

For Gabe, it been because of the way the Knights’ state 145-pounder, ranked No. 2 in that weight class in the state, has pushed him in the East Valley wrestling room.

“I was wrestling OK early in the season, but it was kind of up and down,” Gabe said. “For the last month or so, I’ve been practicing with Chris. That’s what’s turned my season around. Chris pushes me harder than anyone ever has, and he’s taught me a lot along the way. You have to push as hard as you can in practice because you want him to be the best wrestler he can be, too.”

Gabe Rodriguez enters the state tournament as a No. 2 seed after a loss in the regional final to Mount Vernon’s Levi Koetje.

“It was a funny finish,” East Valley coach Craig Hanson said. “Gabe was ahead, 2-0 when he was called by the sideline official for locking his hands. The mat referee never saw it and never called it. We looked at the film and we couldn’t tell if he did or not.”

“I honestly can’t remember if I did it or not, but they called it,” Gabe said. “I was penalized for it and the guy got a takedown on me late to win the match.”

For Jake Rodriguez, he heads to state to wrestle at 152 pounds after wrestling all season as the Knights’ 145-pounder.

Triplett reached last year’s state final at that weight while wrestling for Class 4A Gonzaga Prep and the junior wanted to take another shot at it in the Class 3A tournament.

“Jake was our 145-pounder all season long,” Hanson said. “But at the end of the season, Triplett challenged him for that spot and won a one-point decision against him and took that spot. We were going to send both of them to state at 145, but at the last minute, Jake called me and said he wanted to go at 152.

“Literally, it was the last minute. I was driving over Bigelow Gulch 15 minutes after I’d just left practice when he called me. I think he just didn’t want to have to wrestle a teammate in the state final – and he has a good shot at getting there.”

“I just wanted to spread things out,” Jake said. “We have Chris Triplett at 145 and we needed someone to go 152. It’s tougher wrestling up a weight. The guys are stronger at 152, but my plan is to use my quickness against them.

“That’s the real difference between the two. At 145 the guys are quicker, at 152 they’re stronger.”

Standing in Jake’s way at state is Sedro-Woolley junior Derek Garcia, a two-time state champion considered one of the finest in the nation at that weight.

Jake Rodriguez got his first shot at Garcia in the regional final and was pinned 1:21 into the match.

Hanson said he likes his senior’s chances and is pleased with the way he’s chosen his path.

“That’s the kind of thing you expect from a senior,” the coach said. “He’s doing what he can to help the team and he keeps going out there and giving it everything he has to make it the best season he can for himself.”