Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Davenport sophomore Brock Gustaveson works on Forks's Nate Dahlgren in the 190-pound semifinals at the State Mat Classic in Tacoma Saturday, Feb. 17. Gustaveson won the school's first individual wrestling state title last weekend.
TACOMA - There's a first time for everything. And for Brock Gustaveson and the Davenport wrestling program, that "first time" came in the way of the school's first Mat Classic wrestling state championship last weekend.
Gustaveson, at 190 pounds, won all three of his Mat Classic matches to win Davenport's first individual state wrestling championship Saturday, Feb. 17.
"It's kind of a breakthrough for other people," Gustaveson said. "It shows that it's not impossible to win a state championship."
Gustaveson, a sophomore, pinned Victor Ganche of Goldendale in 1:50 in the quarterfinals and defeated Nate Dahlgren of Forks 14-6 in the semifinals.
His final opponent was a familiar one: Curtis Winona of Pomeroy. Winona handed Gustaveson a loss early this season.
But Gustaveson got the seniors' number each of the four subsequent matches the two competed in this season, including the one that mattered most. Gustaveson pinned Winona in 3:05 to capture his state title.
Gustaveson said he has received a lot of attention in the community and at school since returning with a championship.
"I'm not really used to it," he said. "I'm thankful to have the community."
His teammates, senior Brody Schillinger and eighth-grader Wayland Holmberg, also got top-5 finishes in their weight classes at the Mat Classic.
"The boys weren't just beating good competition. They were dominating them," head coach Jesse Hoff said. "Even more impressive is one was an eighth grader and one was only a sophomore so we got a lot to build on."
Holmberg finished fourth in the 120-pound class. He pinned Lake Roosevelt's Jacoby Jackson in 3:00, then pinned Onalaska senior Norman Prazak in 3:05 in the quarterfinals.
There, Okanogan's Tanner Grooms, the eventual state champion, got Holmberg in a pin in 1:49.
Holmberg then defeated Jackson again, 7-1, before falling to Goldendale's Rydell Myers 14-0 in the 3rd/4th place match.
Schillinger, in his final high school meet, finished fifth in the 165-pound class. He pinned Goldendale's Ivan Erland in 2:48, then lost to Toledo's Bomani Birdwell in 1:38 in the quarterfinals.
The senior then pinned Mabton's Steven Rodriguez in 2:10 and defeated Selkirk's Nathan Rasmussen 10-1 before getting pinned by Liberty's Clae Holling in 1:24.
In the 5th place match, Schillinger exacted his revenge on Birdwell with a 1:53 pin.
"I'll miss the environment," Schillinger said of his high school career concluding. "Having all my friends from wrestling from all the other schools, and the big crowds."
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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