Yelm High School boys wrestling enters 2025-26 season with high expectations

Following the 2024-25 season, where the Tornados placed sixth overall at the Mat Classic in the 4A classification in Tim Beaudin’s first season as Yelm’s head wrestling coach, the team has expressed very clear goals of improvement in the current 2025-26 season.

Beaudin, on Thursday, Dec. 4, told the Nisqually Valley News that the Tornados have “pretty high” expectations for the current season. Some of his own personal goals include repeating as 4A South Puget Sound League (SPSL) champions and improving on the team’s sixth place 4A finish last February.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Beaudin said. “We’ve got to keep everyone healthy and get them back into shape and on weight.”
While Beaudin knows there’s work to be done by his Tornados, he sports a talented roster with veterans and youthful athletes. The team is also led by three experienced senior captains — Jonah Smith, AJ Erickson and Wesley Thompson.

“We got a lot of dudes coming back. It’s a good group of kids. AJ Erickson is coming off of a lesson. He’s very passionate and wants to prove some things. Jonah Smith was all league in football and he’s definitely all league on the mat. He was a state champion his sophomore year. He ended up third last year and wasn’t very happy with his overall results. He’s driven for another state championship,” Beaudin said. “We’ve got a bunch of guys. Wesley (Thompson). (Kaiden) Boothman. (Ethan) Venuto. We’ve also got some young talent I’m excited about. We’ll see if they can learn the high school style of wrestling.”

While the talent is there, Beaudin noted that the team’s overall numbers are down — likely due to the ongoing levy struggles within Yelm Community Schools (YCS). Despite the lower turnout, Beaudin said the core wrestlers turned out for the team and are working hard with a hunger to finish top five at the Mat Classic in February.

Additionally, the program has been fundraising “all year” and Beaudin said the Yelm wrestling community has stepped up in a big way to help alleviate the stress of funding tournaments this season.

“I picked up a bunch of donation checks for our booster club from local businesses in the last couple weeks,” he said. “Tyler Wentworth and his investment firm, and then Miller Construction and some other people helped out.”

Additionally, YHS wrestling held the first annual “Gaylord Strand State Champ Camp” on Sunday, Dec. 7, and welcomed nearly 100 attendees to the clinic that featured eight to nine former state champion wrestlers.

“We’re taking it pretty seriously this year,” Beaudin said. “I would love for the community to get behind the program and support our athletics and wrestling team. It’s been a battle and there’s a lot of uncertainty. It’s frustrating because we’ve had such a long tradition. I think we’ve placed in the top 10 over the last 25 years. The thought of not having the program really frustrates me. We’re going to do everything in our power to keep things going and speak up where needed.”

Smith, a 2024 3A state champion in the 285-pound weight class, laid out some tough goals that he has for himself and the team in 2025. While his goals may be challenging, Smith acknowledged that champions are created through battle.

“Team wise, we’re not losing a duel. That expectation stays. We want to stay undefeated through the duels, especially this year with Spanaway Lake. We gotta beat them,” Smith said. “Personally, I want to win another state title. I lost it last year and was very disappointed in that. This year, I’ll work super hard, come back and win again.”

Following his loss in the 2025 Mat Classic tournament, Smith said he’ll continue to work harder, drill harder and condition harder to ensure he finds himself atop the podium inside the Tacoma Dome this February.

“I really need to condition. No more overtime matches, that’s for sure. Way too many of those,” Smith said. “Coming into high school, I didn’t know how wrestling was going to be. Within the first two days, I realized this isn’t even a team — it’s an actual family. We love each other. We want everyone to get better. Everyone wants what’s best for each other. It’s a brotherhood out here.”

Thompson, who picked up multiple victories inside the Tacoma Dome during the 2025 Mat Classic tournament, said he hopes to enjoy the ride throughout his senior season. While trying to enjoy his final campaign in red and black, Thompson admitted he’ll keep his same work ethic as his previous three seasons in the program.

“My expectation for myself this year is just about having fun and enjoying my senior year. I think we could do pretty good at state this year and make it into the top five,” Thompson said. “I want to enjoy my senior season. I’ll hang out with the team. Hopefully placing too. It’s more fun when you’re winning.”

He also agreed with Smith about Yelm wrestling being more like a brotherhood than a team, and said he’s hopeful that the three team captains — himself, Smith and Erickson — set a good example for the younger athletes in the Tornados program.

“Hopefully, we set a good example for the younger guys. Hopefully they’re looking at us at practice and following us. We want to lead by example,” Thompson said. “When your teammates are winning and you’re losing, it does not feel good. Seeing them win definitely pushes you to win and it makes you a better wrestler overall.”

Though Erickson missed the Mat Classic tournament last February, his primary goal for the 2025-26 season is clear: win a state championship.

“With my senior year, I’ve got some pretty high expectations. I believe I deserve gold. I haven’t had the greatest high school career like I should have. There were some offsets out of the season and out of practice,” Erickson said. “As a team, we’ve always done pretty good at state and at districts. We’ve had some top studs place these last few years, and as a team I’d expect us to place top five at state this year.
“I deserve to be a state champion,” he continued. “I should’ve been there last year, but it was my fault — I cut it short in the classroom. My biggest goal this season is to win state, and I’m here for two reasons — to kick ass and take names.”

Though Erickson knows that the sport of wrestling can be physically and mentally challenging, he’s hopeful to see more young athletes continue to join the sport and stick with it.

“Wrestling can be pretty hard, especially as a freshman coming in from middle school and not being used to this type of training. It’s all worth it if you stick with it,” Erickson said. “It’s a very disciplinary sport. That’s one of the greatest things about wrestling. Whether you’re a top wrestler or not, you get the same discipline skills.”