Riverside’s Spackman grows into formidable wrestler

Robert Spackman remembers having to cut weight to compete in a national wrestling tournament. He was age 12 and trying to make 65 pounds.

“It’s kind of funny, too,” the Riverside senior said. “It was harder for me because I was already so small.”

The Alabama humidity made it possible, and Spackman finished fourth. Now grown, the two-time Washington 2A state medalist can chuckle at the thought.

Spackman grew to 103 pounds when he finished fifth in state as a sophomore. He was fourth last year at 112. This year, he’s competing at a beefier 125 pounds and has already finished sixth in the Tri-State Tournament and won his weight class during Riverside’s victory at the Royal Christmas Tournament.

His aspiration is to finish higher at Mat Classic in February.

“I think I’m better this year and want to go high,” he said. “I think being a senior has the aspect to it where you’re the big guy on the block.”

Wrestling is a part of the Spackman legacy to the Riverside community. Their father, Brian, got the Spackman siblings into the sport. An older brother, Travis, placed seventh at 135 pounds at state in 2002, and his sister, Tirzah, also wrestled for four years for Riverside and won three times by pin during an exhibition girls tournament at state in 2004. A younger brother, Tanner, is on the way.

Robert, said Riverside coach Randy Miller, “has been a part of our program since he was a little kid. Jiminy Christmas, he’s been around since he could get on a wrestling mat.”

Spackman and Boise State-bound rival Levi Jones, a two-time finalist for Lakeside, used to go head-to-head when they were younger. Miller said that early, Spackman had the upper hand.

But, he added, “Levi’s passion is wrestling, Robert’s is different. He doesn’t eat it and breathe it.”

Things like rebuilding automobiles with his father, among other interests hold as much weight as wrestling.

That hasn’t prevented Spackman from having his share of successes after, he said, learning first how to lose.

Miller said that his fourth-year varsity wrestler has always been a scrapper, a contortionist who can get himself out of difficult situations that would stop others. He’s tough to compete against because of a non-stop style.

Although a family trip prevented him from competing in a summer intensive camp, he’s stronger, in part because of more diligent weight lifting. He ran cross country for conditioning.

“Everyone will say I don’t do as much work as I could have,” he said. “But I think wrestling is all mental. It’s how far you want to push yourself.”