The
Puyallup School District is home to four state wrestling champions,
including two students who clinched state titles for the second
consecutive year.
Students
also excelled in the classroom during the winter athletic season,
clinching two academic state championships for having the highest
combined grade point average (GPA) from among all Class 4A schools in
their respective sport or activity.
Puyallup
High senior Matt Voss and sophomore Jordyn Bartelson each won their
respective weight divisions at the Matt Classic XXVI state tournament in
February at the Tacoma Dome.
Voss’s win in the 220-pound division capped an undefeated season and marked his second straight year at clinching a state title.
Bartelson also had back-to-back wins with her first-place finish this year in the 118-pound weight class.
Both
Puyallup High School senior Trent Nivala and Rogers High senior Brandon
Brenenstahl also clinched state wrestling titles. Nivala took first
place in the 285-pound weight class, while Brenenstahl snatched the top
medal spot in the 152-pound weight class.
There
were also three second place finishers, including Emerald Ridge High
senior ShaRaya Quinn, Puyallup High junior Haley Franich, and Edgemont
Junior High ninth grader Brooklyn Bartelson.
Brooklyn,
whose older sister won a state title, ended her first year on the
Puyallup High team with a state medal in the 112-pound division. The two
girls’ father, Bryan Bartleson, is the team’s assistant coach.
The
combined efforts of student athletes on both teams resulted in a second
place state finish overall for the Puyallup High girls team, a seventh
place finish for the Rogers High boys team, and a ninth place finish for
the Puyallup High boys team.
Puyallup
High girls wrestling coach Brian Franich was named the Washington
Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) Girls Wrestling Coach of
the Year. Rogers High boys wrestling coach David Johnston was selected
South Puget Sound League (SPSL) South Division Boys Wrestling Coach of
the Year.
The
school board recognized them, along with Puyallup High gymnastics coach
and SPSL Gymnastics Coach of the Year Dorinda Carpenter, at last
month’s school board meeting.
Rick Wells, director of athletics, health, and fitness, shared a wrap-up of the winter sports season during that same meeting.
In
addition to the girls and boys wrestling team accomplishments, Wells
shared that the Puyallup High Vikings Special Olympics basketball team
also claimed a state championship this year.
The
purple team brought home a gold medal, with the white team winning
bronze in the Unified Division at the 2014 Special Olympics Winter Games
in Wenatchee.
Students
also excelled in the classroom during the winter athletic season, Wells
said, clinching two academic state championships for having the highest
combined grade point average (GPA) from among all Class 4A schools in
their respective sport or activity.
The
Rogers High School girls wrestling team and the school’s band won the
State Academic Champion award, which is the highest academic award given
in the state. This is the second straight year the Rogers High band won
the title.
The
girls wrestling team, coached by Tom Tripple, had a combined 3.256 GPA,
while the band, directed by Stephen Pickard, earned a combined 3.613
GPA.
“I
was delighted to not only see many remarkable performances by our teams
and athletes at various winter post season venues, but also to see the
stellar performance in the classroom as represented by two state
academic team champions and several outstanding overall team GPAs by
other Puyallup School District teams,” Wells said.
Other winter season athletics and activities highlights include:
- Puyallup
High took fourth place at the state girls gymnastic championship.
Several gymnasts from all three district high schools also finished in
the top eight medal positions.
- The
Emerald Ridge High bowling team tied for first place in the SPSL
tournament. Junior Elisabeth Couch placed seventh in the individual
standings at the state bowling tournament.
- The Emerald Ridge High gymnastics team won the SPSL South Division Championship.
- Emerald
Ridge High junior Alex Baier set a new school record in the 100-meter
freestyle (52.58) on the swim and dive team. Several other students from
all three high schools placed in the top eight medalist positions at
the state swim and dive championship in February at the King County
Aquatic Center.
- Puyallup
High School Special Olympics basketball team member Jeffrie Depping, a
senior this year, won a bronze medal in the individual skills category
at the 2014 Special Olympics Winter Games in Wenatchee.