Ben Hawk’s successful debut season as Yelm High School’s girls wrestling coach ended in heartbreaking fashion inside the Tacoma Dome during the WIAA’s Mat Classic, as several of the team’s top wrestlers were injured during the tournament.
Two Tornados’ injuries on the mat — seniors Samantha Blank (135) and Kylie Minker (190) — led to medical forfeiture of the tournament. The two seniors each had high expectations entering the Mat Classic, and despite their injuries, they gave it their all.
Hawk remained proud of his team’s willingness to compete despite adversity.
“It was a wild ride. It was a little rough, but our girls really fought hard. They saw a lot of tests that we’ve seen before, and some of us got through the tests and passed. This is one of the biggest state tournaments there is. It was a 32-girl bracket,” Hawk said. “We saw whoever won each bracket is really the best wrestler in the state, and I was just happy the way these girls showed up and put their foot on the line, slapped hands and got after it. We had girls taking aggressive shots, taking opponents to the limit and really working all the way through six minutes every time they stepped on the mat.”
During Blank’s semifinal matchup in the 135-pound bracket, she awkwardly landed on her shoulder during an exchange with her opponent, Emerald Ridge’s Makyla Bulinger, which led to her shoulder possibly popping out of place. Despite the injury, Blank’s perseverance and will to succeed led her to re-enter the match in hopes of qualifying for a 4A girls 135-pound state championship match. Blank reinjured the same shoulder and medically forfeited the semifinal match and the remainder of her matchups in the tournament.
“With our big one, Sam, going down, that would hurt us a lot. Being a senior, watching her get back up and get back on the mat, when most people would have taken the loss, and she got back on the horse and tried to finish the match,” Hawk said. “She courageously really went after it when I would say most people in the world would step down and take the loss. She went down swinging.”
In Minker’s second match of WIAA’s Mat Classic, against Eisenhower’s Alizah Gutierrez, her knee was awkwardly rolled up on during an exchange with her opponent. She was helped to the medical room inside the Tacoma Dome by her stepfather, Esteban Gonzalez, and a WIAA tournament medical staff member. Her injury, like Blank’s, led to medical forfeiture at the Tacoma Dome.
“Kylie had an incident where her knee just got rolled up. We knew right away that it was severe,” Hawk said. “It was heartbreaking to see someone that’s put that much effort and time into the trade of wrestling for it to be taken away. She stuck around and supported her teammates the rest of the time, which showed what kind of leader she is.”
Senior Kaitlyn Dover (235) — who, following a bye, picked up a second round victory over Kamiakin’s Reagan Downing — was also injured during the tournament. She managed to fight through her ankle injury until she was eliminated from her consolation bracket. Dover made it to the 4A 235-pound quarterfinal round against West Valley’s (Yakima) Myleah Miles. She had injured her ankle in her previous match, and was ultimately defeated. She was handed her second loss in the tournament by Skyview’s Symaran Sivaivai.
“Kaitlyn Dover, in the middle of a match she was dominating, really messed her ankle up. She finished the match with a win and continued to wrestle the rest of the match injured. She left her heart on the mat. She left it all on the mat,” Hawk said. “She worked so hard and tried so hard — it brought a tear to my eye to watch her leave it all on the mat, knowing she was injured. She didn’t give up. That’s one of the big stories of the year, is how these girls went out into battle and got taken out of the battlefield because they went so hard.”
Sophomore Mariah Gibson (155) had one of the most promising showings in the annual Mat Classic state championship tournament. She pinned Curtis’ Jasmine Lee in 4:51 to advance to the second round of her bracket. Though Gibson was eliminated from the championship bracket in round two by Lake Washington’s Valentina Perkins Aguiar, the young Tornado picked up two additional victories in the consolation bracket against Rogers’ Neva Perry and Davis’ Gabriela Sanchez. Her victory against Sanchez came in the form of a 4:00 pinfall in one of the scrappiest matches of the tournament. Hawk had high praise for Gibson’s efforts at Mat Classic.
“Mariah Gibson was a dog,” Hawk said. “She went out and had a state placer in her first match. She took it from her opponent. Her strategy was to give her opponent the fight of her life, and see if we can end up on top. After battling, Mariah got her hand raised. She had a little hiccup in her next match, and we reassessed and re-envision what we’re doing.”
Wrestlers Aurora Smith (100), Destiny Mathews (105), Aiyana Valera (105), Siena Venuto (120), Olivia Kaiser (125) and Brandy Larson (130) also competed in the WIAA’s Mat Classic. Smith picked up a consolation round victory against Auburn’s Rahwa Tesfamichael before being eliminated from her bracket. Mathews won her first consolation round matchup against Juanita’s Lucielle “Luc”` Reinike before elimination.
The Tornados managed to score 43 team points in Mat Classic XXXVI, which earned the team a finish in 31st place. Richland High School’s girls wrestling team won the 4A classification’s tournament with a team score of 180 points.
