No. 4

Lakeside High School won its fourth State 2A wrestling championship in the last eight years past weekend in Tacoma, but even a triumph of that magnitude didn’t come without its share of heartbreak.

That the Eagles took only six wrestlers to the tournament and came home with a title is extraordinary, but two of them lost in hard-fought championship matches, and that takes some getting used to not only for the athletes but for their coach, Scott Jones.

“I’m still a little dazed,” Jones said Tuesday morning from his office. “This is a crazy sport in that the team can win a championship and yet when individuals fall short of their goals—well, they give everything they have for a goal and … it’s still pretty important to them.”

All six wrestlers that Jones took to state brought home a medal. Kyle Johnson at 103 and Jones’ son, Levi, at 125 finished second, Matt Dinsmore at 145 was third, Justin Christman at 135 and Kahel Smith at 189 were eighth, and John Millard won the team’s lone individual championship at 160.

“John kind of saved the day for our team celebration after Kyle and Levi’s tough losses,” said Jones. “We were hoping to celebrate an individual victory too.”

Jones took a quick run through his six state competitors:

Johnson—”Kyle had four losses this season, all in tournament finals. The kid that beat him is probably the best overall in the state at his weight class. Kyle’s a never-give-up type kid.”

Jones—”Our most talented athlete on the team. He won’t make any excuses, but he was terribly sick over there. I even considered pulling him, but he wouldn’t have anything to do with that. I hope his loss will be fuel for the fire next year.”

Smith—”He suffered a double-overtime loss in the quarterfinals and then got a concussion in his next match. He’s our most-improved technical wrestler this year.”

Dinsmore—”He had two one-point losses and was seconds away from being a state champion. He wrestled some of the best matches of his career.”

Christman—”He’s been to state four times and got his first medal. That’s a hurdle in itself, but he made it over.”

Millard—”Probably our most consistent athlete in practices and competitions. Never gives less than 100 percent when he’s on the mat.”

Dinsmore and Christman are seniors; Smith, Millard and Jones, juniors; and Johnson, a freshman, so the Eagles will have a talented and experienced core group back next winter. He thinks they’ll be up to the challenge of sustaining the program at a high level.

“It takes an unbelievable commitment from the kids, their parents and the coaches to keep things going. Most importantly, young athletes need to believe in the system and set high expectations for themselves early in their career.

“There is nothing more powerful than kids believing in themselves and in their ability to achieve. That commitment is important during the season, obviously, but it really involves summer training and athletic development all year long.

“This was really a special group of kids, and I’ve coached a lot of great ones. These are really tough kids, but they’re also known on campus as really nice kids. It’s not that the others weren’t too, but this group is exceptional in that way.”

Jones said that he and his assistant coaches (Troy Hughes, Brian Dunn and Tim Cruger) were devastated when the Eagles qualified only six for state—”the magic number (to contend for a title) is usually nine or more”.

The problem was that the Great Northern League was unable to find another district to combine for a true regional tournament, and this year was granted only two spots in each weight by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.

“That won’t happen again, though,” said Jones. “Next year, we’ll combine with the Central Washington region and have sort of a super-region.”

As he visited, Jones glanced at a lineup for next season.

“We’ll look at strengths and weaknesses and develop an individual plan for each kid,” he said. “For me, it’s therapy, a way to put closure to this season and get ready for next. We’ll have a few kids involved in freestyle, and a bunch of others in spring sports. Almost all our kids, and all six of our state competitors, are multiple-sport athletes.”

As he concluded, Jones once again addressed the issue of reconciling team glory with individual disappointment.

“Ultimately, I would hope that each kid’s goal isn’t a state medal around his neck, but a championship style of life. I hope that when kids leave our program, they pursue everything else in their life with the same passion they have dedicated to wrestling.

“There’s agony in defeat, but also many opportunities for the thrill of victory.”