In Tim Beaudin’s first showing as Yelm High School’s boys head wrestling coach, three of his athletes finished high on the podium, and the Tornados, as a team, finished in sixth place — the highest finish in the South Puget Sound League.
Three Tornados reached the podium inside the Tacoma Dome at the conclusion of WIAA’s Mat Classic, including senior Lake Harris (150), senior Ethan Owens (157) and junior Jonah Smith.
“They’re our strong leaders,” Beaudin said. “They’ve worked really hard. I know they’re disappointed because they wanted to win a state championship, like everybody, but the character they both show after a loss — they suck it in and get back to grinding and get through it. It’s a grind. It’s not an easy tournament. I’m excited for our future and seeing what we can do here. There’s some things we do need to work on, though.”
On his way to third place, Harris defeated Redmond’s Isaac Coverston in the opening round, Auburn’s Joey Rush in the second round, and Pasco’s Josue Reyes in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Harris was defeated by Bonney Lake’s Colby Ducatt before finishing Mat Classic out with back-to-back wins over Camas’ Alec Fraser and Tahoma’s Gavin Wells.
In Harris’ third place matchup against Wells, the Tornado had some familiar company in his corner. In addition to the YHS head coach Beaudin, Harris’ older brother, one time WIAA state champion Dillon Harris, was seated matside for the senior’s final match as a YHS wrestler.
“It was a huge moment,” Beaudin said. “I coached the whole Harris family —multiple state champions there. Lake has been to state all four years. It’s been a dynasty with the Harris family, and we just appreciate all their effort and skill they brought to the mat. They helped develop Yelm into what we are.”
Smith, the WIAA’s 2024 3A 285-pound state champion, also finished in third place. He picked up wins against Lewis and Clark’s Hunter Albaugh and Mead’s Tyler Wells before being defeated by Kamiakin’s Brooks Knight, 4-3, in overtime. Smith rounded out his 2025 Mat Classic with victories over Kennedy Catholic’s Derek Colmon Brusa and Emerald Ridge’s Kaden Thompson.
Smith’s back-to-back state championship aspirations were halted in his semifinal matchup against Knight in overtime by a referee decision that led to a lengthy conversation between Beaudin and the official after the match ended. Smith was called for his second stalling of the match from the advantage position.
“It was a controversial call on stalling in third overtime. The division itself is tough as nails. I think Jonah can wrestle with all of them in that division, but you just have to wrestle the right match and score the points. Especially the takedowns. It’s a tough division,” Beaudin said. “I’ve got to get some big guys in the wrestling room. I need some bodies for him to work with, and they can improve each other. We need to score more points on our feet. That’s heavyweight matches. They push and shove and underhook. It’s a grind, usually low scoring matches.”
Though the two Tornados had strong championship aspirations in 2025, Beaudin is proud of their efforts in the consolation bracket en route to third place.
“It’s not easy to go to the semis and lose, then 45 minutes later you have to come back and try to put it together to battle back through three rounds to place third. I’m super proud of them.”
Owens, the final Tornado placer at Mat Classic, defeated Mead’s Hayden Miller and Woodinville’s Darsh Shenoy in the opening two rounds of the tournament. In the quarterfinals, Owens defeated Newport’s Roger Bravo, before being handed his first tournament loss by multi-time state champion Tre Haines, of Arlington. Following the defeat, Owens would beat Skyline’s Colin Shamp, before losing to Gibson Ayling, of Auburn Riverside, in the third place matchup.
“He is always in the match. He is a true competitor. His heart and will to win is greater than anyone I have coached,” Beaudin said of Owens. “You can never count him out. He’s improved every year.”
Wesley Thompson (138) picked up multiple victories at Mat Classic, including an opening round win over Woodinville’s Thomas Cooper. He was defeated by Rogers’ Grant Rose in the second round, but defeated North Creek’s Keagan Olson and Eisenhower’s Frank Redfield in the consolation bracket before he was eliminated.
Hunter Owens also saw success inside the Tacoma Dome, as he defeated Woodinville’s
Isidro Padilla-Aguilar and Sumner’s Bradley Holland in the consolation bracket following an opening round loss to Mead’s Evan Urann.
Yelm’s Kaleb Holman (165) picked up several victories in his bracket’s consolation round, including wins over Union’s Iziah Farias and Eastmont’s Jacobi Mercado. His brother, Hunter Holman (150), also competed in WIAA’s Mat Classic.
Ashton Carreto (175) won his opening round matchup in the championship bracket at the Mat Classic over Kentridge’s Richard Calkins. He added a consolation win against Puyallup’s Keanu Bartolome before elimination. His teammate, Zander Peterson (175), also picked up a consolation round victory over Kennedy Catholic’s Kael Copeland.
Wrestlers Ethan Venuto (113) and Tamaas Wakefield (285) also competed in Mat Classic. Wakefield nearly sent shockwaves through his heavyweight bracket in an opening round matchup against Emerald Ridge’s Jesse Mains — 4A runner up at 285. In the opening minute of the match, Wakefield caught Mains with a throw and nearly had one of the state’s top heavyweight wrestlers pinned in under a minute. Despite Wakefield’s efforts, Mains wound up with the victory.
“I’m super proud of all our boys. They wrestled their butts off. I saw a lot of big improvements, especially from our younger guys that are returning next season. I’m already making a list of what we need to do next year to compete at this level. We need to get better on our feet. We need to get a little tougher minded,” Beaudin said. “I saw a lot of growth from a lot of our young kids. Hunter Owens found his shot. Ethan Venuto knows what this is like. Just being on the mat at state sets them up for success next year. They know what they’re training for now. You don’t know until you know.”
