Olivia Chapman becomes first Adna girl wrestler to win state title

TACOMA — Olivia Chapman didn’t have any grandiose fantasies of being the last wrestler standing on the biggest stage in Washington state.

She wrestled from ages 6 through 12, fell out of love with the sport, and decided to take two years off before returning as a freshman at Adna High School this season to spend time with friends.

Chapman’s decision paid off extraordinarily. 

She sailed through her first Mat Classic and won the girls 1B/2B/1A 190-pound state championship at the Tacoma Dome Saturday night, becoming the first girls wrestler in Adna High School history to win a state title.

“I didn’t think I was going to do this at all,” Chapman said after the finals match. “I’m only here because of my coaches. It’s amazing. Best day of my life.”

Every opponent Chapman faced was older than her by at least a year, but she pinned her way to the finals. She dispatched Stevenson junior Bailey Webb via pin in just 22 seconds in the second round, breezed past Royal sophomore Leah Christensen in the quarterfinals, and dominated Life Christian Academy sophomore Mercedes Chavez in the semifinals.

In the finals against Meridian sophomore Gretchen Zandstra, Chapman scored first with a takedown as time wound down in the first period. Chapman was the aggressor in the second period and nearly succeeded on multiple attempts at a takedown but couldn’t score in the frame. Finally, in the third, Zandstra nearly took control of the match with a reversal to cut the margin to one point, but Chapman wiggled out of her grasp just before going out of bounds and returned the favor with a reversal of her own with 24 seconds left in the match. As time ran out, she raised her arms in jubilation and she ran to hug the people she gave the most credit to — her coaches.

“It took grit and having my coaches in my corner. If they weren’t there, I don’t know what I would do,” Chapman said. 

Rainier senior Dorien Cano, a two-time state medalist entering his final Mat Classic appearance, dominated his way to the boys 1B/2B 175-pound finals. In his first three matches, he earned three pins in a combined two minutes and 51 seconds, including a 15-second pin to start the tournament in round one.

In his first trip to the state semifinals since his freshman year in 2023, Cano took over in the second period, scoring two reversals and a takedown and finishing it off with a pin to advance to the finals.

“I just went with the flow. I didn’t stress myself out. I rested when I needed to. I didn’t overdo things. I didn’t save my energy,” Cano said.

In the finals, Cano struggled to find an advantage against the taller and longer Chub Plank of Tonasket, who pinned him in three minutes and seven seconds. 

“He was very technical. I could tell he was more technical than me the second that I stepped in there with him,” Cano said of Plank. “His biggest skill set that he had against me was he was very lengthy, and that’s kind of my kryptonite.”

Above all else in his successful wrestling career at Rainier and 14 years total in wrestling, Cano is proudest to have wrestled alongside younger brother Dominic, who placed seventh at state for his highest finish yet. Dominic battled through pain to triumph in the seventh-place match.

“Honestly, I’m more proud of him than I am myself. I’m always going to be right behind him. I just hope he continues to do great things and realizes that he can be that guy to eventually take state,” Dorien said of Dominic.

Rainier junior Blake Roberts also earned a spot on the podium, taking fifth at 285 pounds.

Toledo senior Carter Swofford followed up a state championship game run in football by placing third at the Mat Classic at 132 pounds.

Mossyrock senior Kyle Brockway picked up an eighth-place medal for the second straight year, going 3-3 in the 215-pound bracket at the Mat Classic. 

Napavine junior Tommy Deebach collected his second state medal, placing fourth at 190 pounds and finishing 30-5 on the season. 

Pe Ell senior Hunter Harris won his first state medal by taking home fourth at 215.

In the boys 1A tournament, Rochester junior Maddox Rodgers clinched a sixth-place finish for his first state hardware. 

For the girls, Adna eighth grader Kassidy Davis made a strong statement in her first trip to the Tacoma Dome with a third-place medal in the girls 1B/2B/1A 100-pound bracket. Mossyrock senior Bailey Gross concluded her prep career by placing fifth at 115 pounds and going 31-3 her senior year.

Napavine senior Maya Kunkel earned her second state medal by finishing fifth at 170 pounds. She didn’t wrestle all of last season due to injuries and a prolonged illness after placing second as a sophomore two years ago. 

Kunkel admitted there was some fear when she finally came back to wrestle this season, but she conquered her doubts and mental hurdles throughout her final season, including at the Mat Classic, to end her career with a win and some more hardware.

“This is one of the biggest things in my life. I’ve wrestled for 15 years, so ending with a win means the most to me right now,” Kunkel said. “In this tournament, I went really big inside of my head. I’m my first competitor. I knew I wanted to end my career on a win, and doing that was one of the hardest things, especially having to fight back from two losses.”

Tenino junior Maleah Chacon, 120 pounds, and Rainier junior Ryleigh Cruse, 235 pounds, both secured their second career state medals, with Chacon placing fourth and Cruse taking fifth in their respective divisions. Similarly to Kunkel, Cruse bounced back from two straight losses in the semifinals and consolation semifinals to find a way to win in the fifth-place match. She earned a pin in 80 seconds in her final match of the season, placing fifth for the second straight state tournament.

“I was really down on myself after the first loss, but after losing again and then getting hurt in the fifth-place match, I had nothing else to lose,” Cruse said. “I went out and actually wrestled how I should have in the last two matches. I’m proud of myself because this season was a lot harder than last season.”