Washington Celebrates 50 Years of Championship Wrestling

For the entire 2002-2003 season Washington celebrates 50 years of high school wrestling.  The following photos and text may be copied, in whole or in part, for use by anybody interested in using this celebration as a part of their regular season publications.

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A match from 1952.  Note the "boxing ring."	The 1952 Sedro-Woolley state championship team	The 1962 tournament at WSU	The 1970 AA tournament at CWU	Mat Classic 1998 at the Tacoma Dome	50 year logo-  full color	50 year logo- black & white

Text:

The Historical Eras of Washington Wrestling
By Cal Johnson,  Mat Classic Media Manager

It is often said that without a sense of history one can never truly understand and appreciate the happenings of today. That philosophy certainly applies to high school wrestling in the state of Washington. To not take today’s Mat Classic for granted, one must understand that we have come from wrestling "smokers" among ten schools, and horse hair mats, to an extravaganza that draws 896 wrestlers, over 25,000 fans, and media reporters and photographers from over 125 newspapers, television stations, and radio stations. 

The development of the sport in Washington is best described in the form of four historical eras...prior to 1953, from 1953 to 1962, from 1963 to 1988, and from 1989 to the present. We can aptly name the eras the Smoker Era, the State Invitational Tournament Era, WIAA State Tournament Era, and Mat Classic Era, respectively.

THE SMOKER ERA

Prior to the first "state tournament" in 1953, wrestling was sponsored by fewer than ten schools, the majority of which were on the northwest side of the Cascades. Wrestling matches were treated as "smokers" on a raised platform with ropes surrounding the mat. In the Skagit Valley combined wrestling and boxing matches would be held with the format being two wrestling matches, then two boxing matches, then two wrestling matches, and so on. Sedro Woolley and Burlington were the main powers of this era. Dr. William Tomaras, who was hired in 1949 as the wrestling coach at Washington State College in Pullman, brought his freshman wrestlers to the Skagit Valley to get experience against the high school wrestlers, a practice that was legal at that time.

THE STATE INVITATIONAL ERA

The first "state" tournament, which was actually an invitational, was held in 1953 at Washington State. In 1953 Washington State was a major west coast power in college wrestling and Dr. Tomaras, who was third in the NCAA for the University of Illinois, knew that the development of in-state talent was critical to his program. He invited fellow Illinois wrestler Bo Campbell, then the coach at Sedro Woolley, to organize the Skagit Valley schools to attend a "state" tournament in Pullman. That tournament, which was staffed by Dr. Tomaras and fourteen members of the WSC wrestling team, involved eight schools and sixty wrestlers competing in eleven weight classes. The wrestlers were provided free room and board in fraternity houses. Medals and ribbons were purchased from dues ($3.50, a lot for a college student in those days) paid by the WSC wrestlers for membership in the Cougar Keylock Wrestling Club. Only one official was paid as most of the officiating was done by WSC wrestlers, including future 1976 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Coach Vaughan Hitchcock. Some of the Skagit Valley wrestlers actually complained because there were no ropes to keep opponents in bounds. Sedro Woolley won the tournament with seven individual champions. Lincoln of Tacoma finished in the runner-up position.

An interesting side note to the ’53 tournament was that Everett and Burlington did not attend. Burlington, which had beaten Sedro Woolley in a dual that season, was coached by Francis Bacoka. When the Burlington administration ruled that only seniors could attend the tournament in Pullman, Bacoka took a stand. Either the entire team went or no one went, so the team stayed home. Sedro Woolley Coach Bo Campbell, upon hearing about the Burlington decision, decided not to ask. He simply took his team. When Sedro Woolley won the tournament the Burlington community was so upset at the high school principal that the principal fired Bacoka out of frustration. The next Burlington coach was Bo Campbell in 1954-1955.

The 1953 tournament was conducted with the approval, although not the sponsorship, of the WIAA under the leadership of Executive Director (1950-63) Henry DeYoung. With the support of the WIAA and the hard work of many, the sport saw phenomenal growth over the next ten years. From eight teams in 1953 to 107 schools in 1962, the state experienced developments such as the first district qualifying in 1956, the first east side state champion (Pullman) in 1957, and the application of the Opstad Formula for state tournament allocations in 1960. In 1959 Moses Lake, under the leadership of Coach Eric Beardsley, won its first state team title, which began a dynasty of eight state championships in the next ten years and seventeen overall.

THE WIAA STATE TOURNAMENT ERA

The first WIAA sponsored tournament was conducted in 1963. It was not a coincidence that Cecil West, former teacher/coach and then Superintendent of Chelan School District, was elected to the WIAA Executive Board in that school year. West had long been a supporter of the sport. Along with new WIAA Executive Director (1963-82) Henry Reybus, West and the Executive Board took responsibility for the tournament in the fall of 1962-63. That tournament, still held at Washington State, was won by Bellevue. 

The ‘63 tournament marked the beginning of a period of tremendous growth and significant developments. 1965 saw the first state tournament held outside of Pullman, at the University of Washington in Seattle. In 1968 the tournament was divided into two classifications for the first time, with 600 enrollment being the dividing line. The Class 1A/B tourney held at Moses Lake was won by Othello. The Class 2A tournament, hosted by Western Washington State College where William Tomaras had become the athletic director, was won by Moses Lake. 

By 1970 the state had 212 schools that sponsored wrestling teams and 8,000 students that labored in the sport. That year also marked the first historic cultural exchange when a Washington team traveled to Japan. A short two years later, 1972, saw the need to increase to three classifications as the total number of schools with wrestling reached 235. Davis won the 3A title, West Valley of Spokane the 2A title, and Royal City the 1A-B title that year. 

Two other noteworthy developments of this era occurred in 1980 and 1983. The state got a glimpse of the future in 1980 when the state tournaments for two classifications were hosted at the same site. The 3A and 1A/B classifications combined at Hec. Edmondson Pavilion on the campus of the University of Washington. 1983 saw Warden, a Class B school, become the first and only Class B school to win the 1A-B tournament. 

THE MAT CLASSIC ERA 

In the fall of 1988 six energetic people with a vision for the future of Washington wrestling met to discuss a dream. Mike Hess (Edmonds), Sam Indorf (Cheney), Shelly Thiel (Enumclaw), Steve Anderson (Lake Stevens), and Jim Meyerhoff (Franklin Pierce) met with WIAA Executive Director Cliff Gillies to discuss the possibility of conducting all three state tournaments under one roof. It would take a monumental effort to pull it off by February. Amazingly they got it done. 

The first task was to name the tournament. A two-month contest was held to pick a name. The winner from among seventy-one entries was Craig Skeesick, a former two-time state champion (141 lbs, 1967 and 1968) from Moses Lake. And thus "Mat Classic" was officially born.

Mat Classic I, held at the Tacoma Dome in 1989, featured three classifications on eighteen mats. Over 18,000 spectators watched the action, an increase from the combined 16,000 at the separate tournaments in ’88. The 1989 tournament also introduced another significant development..….the opportunity for each school to enter two wrestlers per weight class into the post season series. That change did not take long to demonstrate its value. In 1990 Jason Cleverly and Vann Belvoir, both of Kentwood, met in the finals at 101 pounds with Cleverly winning the first of his three state titles. Mat Classic I saw Cashmere win 1A-B, Cheney win 2A, and Kent-Meridian take the 3A title. 

1998 saw another reorganization of school classifications. Class 4A was added, requiring Mat Classic X to expand to 24 mats and 896 wrestlers. Champions in that tournament were Central Valley in the 4A division, Moses Lake in 3A, Toppenish in 2A, and Warden in the 1A/B division.

Mat Classic features many characteristics not found at individual state tournaments. The March of Athletes, over 1000 strong with wrestlers, officials and cheerleaders, is an emotional opening to the finals. Presentation of Hall of Fame inductees and Academic State Champions add to the atmosphere. The tournament provides over 70 physicians and athletic trainers for the safety of the wrestlers. Ed Aliverti, of Olympic and NCAA announcing fame, makes Mat Classic an annual priority. The tournament requires 36 referees and over 60 scorers and timers as well as numerous runners and head table workers. The awards presentation, itself a major undertaking, necessitates the presentation of awards for a total of 56 weight classes. Mat Classic XIII (2001) saw Jim Meyerhoff, one of the original organizers of Mat Classic, move to the WIAA as Assistant Executive Director. With that move Meyerhoff became the Mat Classic Tournament Director and has concentrated on making improvements each year. The 2003 tournament will feature a celebration of fifty years of Washington high school wrestling. 

A BRIEF SUMMARY OF TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

(through 2002)

Through the 2001-2002 season, three athletes had achieved the dream of winning four Washington state titles. The first was Pat Connors of R.A. Long High School from 1991-94 at four different weight classes. The latest was Lake Stevens’ Burke Barnes, 1999-2002, at 115 and 125 lbs. Sandwiched in between was Martin Mitchell of Tonasket, who won titles at four different weight classes from 1998 to 2001. Forty-two wrestlers have won three titles, the first being Moses Lake’s Dan Strode at 168/178 lbs. from 1966-68. The honor of being the first two-time champion is shared by two wrestlers, Don Garney of Sedro Woolley (103, 112 lbs.) and Vic Eshpeter of Tacoma Lincoln (120, 120 lbs.). Garney and Eshpeter captured their titles in the first two tournaments in 1953 and 1954. 

A summary of the all-time historical leaders in state team titles, based on 2001-2002 classification, finds Moses Lake leading the 4A classification with 17 state team titles and 53 individual state champions. Current 3A schools are led by Sedro Woolley with 6 team titles and 39 individual champions. Cashmere heads the list of 2A schools with 10 team championships and 38 state champions. The 1A-B leader is Warden, with 4 team titles and 21 state champions.

see list of three and four time state champions