Hall of Fame Class for 2023:

Burlington HIgh School

Pullman High School

Washington State University

R. A. Long High School

Moses Lake High School

Auburn High School

Lincoln High School
Wilson High School

Sedro Wooley High School

Mount Vernon High School

Anacortes High School

Ephrata High School

Kelso High School

South Kitsap High School

Sedro Wooley High School

Blanchet High School

Mountlake Terrace High School

Moses Lake High School

Puyallup High School

Issaquah High School

Timberline High School

Royal High School
Cashmere High School

Moses Lake High School
Gray’s Harbor Community College

Quincy high School
Bellingham High School

Olympic High School
Capital High School

Curtis High School

WF West High School

Shadle Park High School

Enumclaw High School

Eisenhower High SChool

Mt. Rainier High School

Colfax High School

Woodland High School
Chelan High School

Franklin Pierce High School
Pacific Lutheran University

Tyee High School
Lake Steven High School

Elma High School

Connell High School

Bethel High School

Montesano High School

Clover Park High School

Hoquiam High School

Mt. Baker High School

North Thurston High School

Sumner High School
Bellevue High School
Sammamish High School

Lake Washington High School

Auburn High School

Kent Meridian High School

Pullman (Honarary Member)

Mount Si High School
Tumwater High School

Edmonds (Honorary Member)

Edmonds Woodway High School

Medowdale High School

Cheney High School

Sunnyside High School

Fife High School

Mariner High School

Fife High School

Omak High School

Othello High School

Concrete High School

Kennedy High School
R. A. Long High School

Big Bend Community College

Grandview High School
University High School

Lake Washington High School

Puyallup High SChool

Snohomish High School

Cashmere High School

Renton High School
Connell High School

Rogers High School

Sumner High School

Marysville Pilchuck HIgh School
Western Washington College

Mead High School

Ferndale High School

Edmonds Woodway High School
Edmonds High School

Newport High School
University of Washington

North Mason High School

Kennewick High School
Warden High School

Oak Harbor High School
Snohomish High School

Columbia River High School
Walla Walla High School

East Valley High School
West Valley High School

Clover Park High School
Pacific Lutheran University
Decatur High School

Camas High School

Connell High School
Oak Harbor High School
Washington State University

Castle Rock High School
Republic High School
Pomeroy High School

WF West High School

Bremerton High School
Clover Park High School
Curtis High School

Moses Lake High School

Medical Lake High School
Blaine High School

Spanaway Lake High School
Bethel High School
Peninsula High School

Vashon Island High School

Port Angeles High School
Decatur High School
South Kitsap High School

Central Valley High School
Thomas Jefferson High School

Moses Lake High School

Warden High School
Zilliah High School
Clover Park High School

Mount Vernon High School
Burlington High SChool

Deer Park High School

Inglemoor High School

Sumner High School
Highline Community College

Battle Ground High School

Pasco High School
Kennewick High School

Mercer Island

Elma High School

Warden High School

Olympia High School

Olympic High School

Peninsula High School

Yelm High School

Lakeside Nine Mile Falls
Marysville High School
Snohomish High School

Tonasket High School

Wenatchee High School
Eastern Washington University

Snohomish High School
East Valley High School

Enumclaw High School
Kentwood High School
Kent Meridian High School

Burlington Edison High School
Ephrata High School

Connell High School

Whitworth College
Ferris High School
Othello High School

Central Kitsap High School

Hudsons Bay HIgh School
Clark College

Chiawana High School
Pasco High School

Inglemoor High School
Everett High School
Blanchet High School
Medodale High School

Port Townsend High School
Walla Walla High School
Thomas Jefferson High SChool
South Kitsap High School

Woodway High School
Ferndale High School
Lynnwood High School
Snohomish HIgh School

Quincy High School

Tahoma High School

Bellarmine Prep
Nathan Lee High SChool
Lake Washington High School
Arlington High School

Sunnyside High School

Mead High School
Auburn High School

Blaine High School
Eastern Washington

Steilacoom High School
Pacific Lutheran University

Sedro Wooley High School
Burlington Edison High School
Concrete High School
Anacortes High School
Mount Vernon High School
Cheney High School
Liberty High School

Jay Breckenridge was a three-time state placer for Burlington-Edison HS, including a state championship in 1978. His wrestling career was cut short due to injuries after his freshman season at Eastern Washington University where he qualified for the national tournament. Breckenridge was an assistant coach at five different schools over his first 8 years. In 1998, he became the head coach at Sedro-Woolley High School, and his teams have a dual meet record of 114-12 overthe past 17 years. The Cubs set a state record as they won six consecutive state Championships from 2002-07, and won eleven state trophies overall. His wrestlers have captured 96 state medals, including 41 state finalists and 21 state champions. Derek Garcia was a 4-time state champion for Sedro-Woolley.

His peers have selected Breckenridge as the 3A state Coach of the Year three times, and he was selected as one of eight NFHS Sectional Coaches of the Year in 2007. Under Breckenridge’s leadership, Sedro Woolley annually hosts three tournaments during the high school and freestyle season. His nominator notes that Breckenridge is “one of those rare coaches who appear gruff and tough from afar, but whose athletes love him, respect him, and believe in him.” Breckenridge has five children, and along with teaching Physical Education at SWHS he is also the owner of JB Cattle Company.

Alderwood High School
Mountlake Terrace High School

John Casebeer was a state champion for Edmonds High School in 1963 and was an All-American (3rd place) for Central Washington University in 1968. He taught and coached in the Edmonds School District from 1968-1998. Since 1970 he has served as a wrestling official at all levels, including state tournaments and evaluator of state officials. Casebeer is currently officiating and provides wrestling clinics to assist coaches in the vicinity.

John Casebeer provided the wrestling foundation for high school wrestling in the Edmonds School District for 30 years. His unbridled enthusiasm for the sport and his contagious smile made it impossible for a new wrestler to say no when asked to turn out for the team. Casebeer’s junior high and middle school teams were always in top condition as well as excellent technicians. Records of wins and losses were not kept, though over a span of 18 years at the middle school level, his teams lost only two matches. As a coach at Mountlake Terrace HS for five years, Casebeer coached 25 state participants along with a state champion. Many of his middle school wrestlers went on to become high school state champions, college wrestlers, and wrestling coaches. Randy Couture went on to become an Olympic contender and five time cage fighter champion.

Chehalis High School
\John Eklund was born and raised in Aberdeen and attended Western Washington University, graduating in 1970 with a major in history and a minor in athletic coaching. Eklund played football for the Vikings and participated in intramural sports including wrestling. Eklund worked at Chehalis Middle School for 30 years, teaching History and Mechanical Drawing as well as coaching football and wrestling.

In his 37 years coaching wrestling at Chehalis Middle School, his teams have had a string of 30 consecutive winning seasons, and have 15 undefeated seasons and 11 league titles. Eklund has coached nine state champions and 57 state placers. He was recognized as the Regional Middle School Coach of the Year four times and his 1990 team earned the WIAA Academic Middle School state championship. Eklund has been named league Middle School Coach of the Year multiple times.

Eklund helped establish the Lewis County freestyle wrestling program in the late 1970’s. He also serves as the announcer for the W.F. West High School wrestling matches and never misses an out-of-town match. He has spent 30 years as a member and past-president of the Chehalis Activators, a group that raises money exclusively for Chehalis Middle School athletics.

John returned to coaching at Chehalis MS after a six year retirement. The school was in desperate need for a coach in 2007 and John quickly stepped in to fill the void and is still coaching to this day. John and his wife Nancy live in Chehalis. They have two sons, Jeffrey (Stacey) and Max (Tami) and five Grandchildren. Jeffrey and Max are coaching in the Chehalis program.

Othello High School

Ruben Martinez has been involved in coaching for 32 years, including 23 years at his alma-mater, Othello High School. As a wrestler at Othello, Martinez placed 4th, 2nd and 1st in state from 1976-78. He wrestled for Eastern Washington University and the University of Montana. Martinez was an assistant coach under former Othello grad and WSWCA Hall of Fame Member Scott Bliss at the University of Montana.

After stints as a high school assistant and head coach in Montana, he returned to Othello HS as an assistant for Wayne Schutte from 1992-95. In the fall of 1995, Martinez became the head wrestling coach at Othello, and he would lead the Huskies for the next 20 years. During his tenure at OHS, his teams won two state titles along with 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finishes. 16 of his wrestlers captured state titles. Over his career, Martinez coached 93 individual state medalists’ including 19 state champions. His teams won 10 league titles, with 9 undefeated seasons, and 6 regional titles. In dual matches, his Othello team had 150 dual wins, and overall his teams had 195 wins.

Forks High School

Robert (Bob) Wheeler teaches PE at the Forks Intermediate School. Over the years has taught a myriad of subjects for students in the Forks schools from fourth grade through twelfth grade. In 1979 he signed a one year position to teach English at the Forks Jr. - Sr. High School and is now working on his 37th year of teaching in Forks.

In 1979 Coach Wheeler served as an assistant coach at Forks High School before becoming the head coach in 1983. During his time at Forks, his teams have compiled a dual meet record of 246-68-2, and have won 16 dual meet league championships. The Spartans have placed in the top-10 in state ten times. Wheeler has coached 75 of the 77 FHS state placers, which include six state champions. His sons Ryan and Rob were among the Forks state placers.

There were three years from 2002 – 2004 that Coach Wheeler did not coach wrestling while his wife, Lyn, was battling cancer. Happily, she is now cancer free. In 2005 he returned to wrestling as an assistant coach, but again took over head coaching duties in 2007.

When Coach Wheeler moved to Forks in 1979, he started the Forks freestyle wrestling club which has supported kids’ wrestling ever since. In 1986 Wheeler was named the 1A State Coach of the year. In 1989, he was a coach for one of the Centennial Games regional wrestling teams. In 1991 he was the team leader for a cultural exchange team to Japan. He also spent six years as a WSWCA regional representative.

In the Forks community he spent six years coaching baseball in Little League and Babe Ruth. For eight years he served as the Forks High School fastpitch head coach, and was also the Forks High School head baseball coach for four years.

Curtis High School
Clover Park High School

Doug Cowan is a 1967 graduate of Curtis HS and charter member of the CHS Athletic Hall of fame, where he was a four-sport letterman in football, wrestling, baseball and track, and awarded CHS Outstanding Senior Athlete. Cowan matriculated to the University of Washington, receiving an academic/athletic scholarship for football and wrestling. Following an injury, Cowan transferred to the University of Puget Sound in 1971, participating in football and track, earning All-American honors in football. UPS honored him with the Ben Cheney Award for the Outstanding Senior Athlete.

He began teaching in 1974 with the Clover Park SD, teaching science, coaching football and track. In 1977 Joe Reasons asked him to assist with wrestling at Clover Park HS. In their first season together, the Warriors won the first of two state championships among five top-ten finishes. In 1992 Cowan and Reasons independently moved to Curtis HS where he continued to coach wrestling and football. During their time together, Reasons and Cowan accumulated a dual meet record of 227 wins and 88 losses. Cowan became the head coach in 2000 and guided the Vikings to 93 wins until his retirement in 2012. Cowan has coached eleven state finalists and six state champions. One of those state champions, Kirk White, went on to win a national title for Boise State and later coached the Broncos. His Curtis teams won two Academic State Championships, including numerous individual Academic State Champion wrestlers.

Cowan was selected by his peers as league and regional assistant coach of the year, and league and regional head coach of the year. He also received the inaugural Sportsman of the Year at the 50th anniversary Washington State wrestling tournament. Cowan’s philosophy, a theme throughout his career, is to: compete, especially against one’s best self; commit to excellence in all endeavors; and lead with impeccable integrity. He has garnered the respect of students, athletes, opposing coaches and officials as a true gentleman of the sport who held his athletes to high standards. He taught science for 38 years, and was selected as Regional Science Teacher of the Year in 1998. Cowan was selected by the Curtis HS students to be the faculty commencement speaker eight times, including seven of the last nine years of teaching. He continues to coach football and substitute teach.

Mount Baker High School
Ferndale High School

Ron Lepper wrestled for Cashmere HS under Hall of Fame coaches Bill Elliot and John Durheim as part of three state championship teams, and played football for HOF coach Jack Collins. At Simon Fraser University Lepper wrestled and played football from 1983-86, and served as an assistant coach for both programs. As an assistant coach for Ferndale during the 1989 season, he worked with Hall of Fame coach Lee Anderson. Lepper was the head coach at Palo Verde HS in Blythe, CA and coached PV’s first CIF (Southern Section) place who participated in the masters meet, one step away from the state tournament.

Lepper moved to Mt. Baker in 1994 where he would coach wrestling for the Mountaineers for 20 seasons. His dual record is 146-31, with a league record of 107-21 including a 61 conference dual meet streak from 1996-2005. The boys team won the state championship in 2000, were runner-ups three times, third place three times, and three other top-ten finishes. The boys teams also won 10 regional champion ships and 11 league titles. Lepper helped spearhead the rise of girls wrestling in the northwest section of our state. He coached the Mt. Baker girls team to four top-ten finishes including a state championship in 2008 and trophies in 2007 and 2010. The girls won the first Girls Dream Dual Tournament title, as well as the first girls dual meet in Whatcom County. Over the course of his career at MBHS, Lepper coached exactly 100 state placers, 14 state champions including his daughter, Rainey Lepper. He was named league Coach of the Year 11 times, Regional Coach of the Year 8 times, and in 1998 Lepper was named Sate Coach of the Year for the 1A classification.

He spent most of those years coaching three sport seasons. Lepper has been the head football coach since 1996, has recorded over 150 wins, and was named league Coach of the Year seven times. In his time at Mt. Baker, Lepper was a head coach or assistant coach for softball, baseball, and even basketball this past year. He continues to teach at Mt. Baker and coach football. His nominator says this of his friend; “Coach Lepper’s loud ‘Old School’ exterior hides his huge heart for kids. He loves impacting the lives of kids through sports.”

Othello High School

Mike Williams was instrumental in the accomplishments of the Othello High School wrestling program as an assistant coach for thirty years, and helped four different head coaches develop and mold young kids into young successful men. His role as an assistant coach was valuable to the athletes and coaches that he worked with. The Othello teams that Williams helped coach won three state championships (1968, 1969, 1974) along with five runner-up finishes (1975, 1977, 1978, 1986, 1995). There were 22 individual state champions for Othello as well as 14 runner-ups. He taught science and math for 30 years at Othello High School and coached at Othello MS for seven seasons.

Coach Williams took the responsibility of traveling all over the country taking wrestlers from Othello, and at times from other programs, to tournaments. He started the little guy program in Othello in the late 1960’s. He coordinated freestyle tournaments, with a highlight being the 1976 Olympic Qualifier in Othello where he was the assistant tournament director. Williams also coached the 1982 Cultural Exchange Team to Australia and twice coached Team Washington at the Junior Nationals in Iowa.

During his years at Othello, Williams taught many athletes the commitment and dedication that it takes to be successful. Many of the athletes that he helped coach became successful in their own right, including WSWCA Hall of Fame members Wayne Schutte (Othello), Mark Kondo, (Othello), Ruben Martinez (Othello), and Scott Bliss (Auburn and Mead).

Lake Stevens High School
Bethel High School

Brent Barnes has set the standard for high school wrestling programs as his teams have captured eleven state team championships during his time at Lake Stevens HS.

After winning the 1980 “AAA” state championship for Rogers HS in Puyallup, Barnes was a 2-time All-American at North Idaho, winning a national championship. He would continue his career at Oklahoma State University before heading back to North Idaho for a year where he coached the Cardinals to the NJCAA National Championship. Back in Washington, he spent a year as an assistant at Bethel HS as the Braves placed 2nd in state, before teaching and coaching job became available at Lake Stevens in 1987.

The Vikings won their first state in 1990, and since 2000 they have captured ten more titles, the most recent in 2016. Along with the championships, his teams have earned eight other top-four trophies. Barnes has lead LSHS to 22 regional championships, 25 sub-regional tournament titles, and 27 WESCO dual titles during his 30 seasons. In 2005 the Vikings were WIAA Academic State Champions.

42 individual state champions have wrestled for Barnes, including two 4-time champs (Burke Barnes and MichaelSoler), and two wrestlers that won three titles. 185 Vikingshave placed at the state tournament.

Barnes has been named WESCO Coach of the Year 3 times, and in 1992 he was named as the AA Coach of the Year. The NHCA honored him as the West Regional Coach of the Year in 2010.

He spent four years as the WSWCA Secretary and coached the Cultural Exchange team to Poland in 1991.Barnes has coached on the Washington team to Fargo multiple times, and spent the past five years as the USA World Team Coach at the cadet and junior levels. Over the past 12 years, he has assisted with the women’s program for USA Wrestling.

Barnes is the son of Hall of Fame coach Ray Barnes (Puyallup HS), and they are the first father/son coaches to be inducted in the WSWCA Hall of Fame.

Ilwaco High School
White River High School
Sequim High School

Kevin McNulty wrestled, played football and ran track at Naselle HS. He continued to play football in college at Olympic CC and Pacific University, where he earned a degree in education before moving back to Naselle where he started his teaching and coaching career. Over the past 30 years he has coached and taught at Ilwaco, Sequim, White River and is now in his tenth year back at Ilwaco.

He does not shy away from a challenge as he has taken over a few wrestling and football programs that were struggling and turned them in to top teams at the league and state level. McNulty has been a master at increasing participation, especially with small schools.

McNulty has coached 69 wrestling state placers, including 15 state champions and four runner-ups. His teams have won six state trophies, placing 2nd three-times, 3rd twice and 4th. His teams compiled a dual meet record of 212-52 and they have won league titles at all three schools, including six consecutive league and regional titles at White River and currently two in a row at Ilwaco.

He has been selected as the league Coach of the Year six times, regional Coach of the Year three times, and has been honored as the state classification Coach of the Year at the AAA level with White River in 2003, and B level with Ilwaco in 2017. McNulty was named as a NWCA Coach of the Year in 2003, and in 2004 was selected as the Washington State Wrestling Coach of the Year. He was awarded the WIAA Sportsman of the Year Award in 2003. McNulty’s football teams have placed 5th in state three times and he has been selected as league Coach of the Year four times.

His service to our sport includes fifteen years as a member of the WSWCA Executive Board, where he served as Rep-at-Large, Vice-President and President. McNulty helped coordinate the annual coaches clinic for many years. He serves as the WA state representative to the NHSCA wrestling committee. For the past 25 years he organized and run summer wrestling camps. The first 20 years as K&K Wrestling Camp and the past five years as Ilwaco Summer Duals.

East Valley High School
Lakeside High School
Wapato High School

Craig Hanson is entering his 24th year of coaching at East Valley where his teams have finished in the top-ten at state eighteen times and have won fourteen league titles, eight regional titles and one state championship. Prior to coming to EVHS, Hanson coached at Arlee HS (MT), Wapato HS, Lakeside HS Nine Mile Falls and Coeur d’Alene HS (ID). He has an overall combined dual meet record of 354-64 and has had 26 top-ten team finishes at the state tournament in 34 years of coaching. Over his career, he has coached nine academic state champions, fourteen state champions, 147 state placers and 12 High School All-Americans.

Hanson has been awarded as the 2002, 2003, 2018 WSWCA Coach of the Year, the 2003 & 2017 NWCA Sectional Coach of the Year; the 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2018 GNL Coach of the Year. He was one of the co-founders of the Washington Intensive Wrestling Camp and has been a featured clinician at many local camps. Hanson has put in countless hours for the sport of wrestling as a volunteer, and has served multiple roles for the WSWCA including president, vice president, and at-large member. Hanson has also served as WSWA Junior Team Director, National Team Coach, Coaching Director and a Cultural Exchange Coach. He is currently an organizer of the WSWCA Coaches Clinic, is involved in the Japanese Cultural Exchange Program, has served as WSWA Coaches Director and the NWCA Board of Directors - Scholastic, along with coaching club wrestlers of all ages throughout his career.

Hanson has brought numerous wrestling events to Spokane including the Spokane Open College Wrestling Tournament, the USAW Tour of America’s Bigfoot Battle and many local and State events over the years. He has also served as the Tournament Director for the NJCAA National Championships, the Spokane Open and Washington Dream Duals. Hanson is a huge proponent to add a State Dual Meet Championship in Washington working with the WIAA as a coach’s representative.

Hanson is a graduate of the Univ. of Montana and Gonzaga University. He has been married to his wife, Jeneen for 35 years and they are the proud parents of three boys, Matthew, Clete and Zachary who are all actively involved in the sport of wrestling either coaching or participating.

Emerald Ridge High School
HM Jackson High School
Vashon High School

Jim Meyerhoff grew up in a wrestling family and was helping manage tournaments at a young age. Wrestling provided many opportunities and took his family all over the world. Following graduation from Puyallup HS, Meyerhoff attended Pacific Lutheran University and assisted with the wrestling program. He spent five years as an assistant at Jackson HS in Everett, three years as an assistant at Vashon Island HS and a year as head coach at Cascade JHS in Auburn.

He was the head wrestling coach at Emerald Ridge for fifteen years, starting the program at the new school in 2000. ER teams won five SPSL Championships, three regional championships, and the 2011 Girls team were the 4A Academic State Champions. Meyerhoff coached 49 state placers, including 3 state champions, six runners-up, and twelve third place finishers. Emerald Ridge ran the first tournament solely for girls after the WIAA started the girls state tournament in 2007. Meyerhoff was chosen as the SPSL South Coach of the Year in 2005, 2006 and 2011 along with Region 2 Coach of the Year in 2011. In 2009 Meyerhoff was honored as the State Coach of the Year for the girls division, and he was selected as the 4A Coach of the Year in 2011. Meyerhoff also coached the ERHS Girls Golf team where his teams won six league titles.

He has been the tournament manager for many league and regional tournaments along with multiple high school tournaments each year. Meyerhoff has been a Mat Classic staff member every year since its inception, now serving as the B Tournament Director. He has been a strong proponent for the advancement of girls wrestling in Washington, and helped coach the WSWA Girls National Team at Fargo where the teams placed 2nd and 3rd in the national duals. He has served as Director of the WSWCA Hall of Fame for 21 years, and as a WSWCA Executive Board Member, Meyerhoff has been involved in the running the annual coaches clinic and was part of the group that helped get the match count raised to 45 matches.

Meyerhoff was a photography, technology, and yearbook teacher for 27 years, and was the Puyallup HS Athletic Director for three years. He currently serves as the Puyallup SD Director of Athletics, Health & Fitness. Meyerhoff and his wife Dawn (an elementary teacher in the Puyallup School District) have two grown children, Angela and Tyler, and a six-year old grandson, Cormac.

Central Valley High School
West Valley High School
University High School

John Owen has had a major impact at all levels as a wrestling coach for 47 years. After a two-year stint in the Army, and graduating from Central Washington in 1972, Owen coached at South Umpqua HS (OR) for three years where his team had a dual record of 72-11-2 and his teams placed 2nd and 4th, had three champions and eight place winners. Owen then moved to North Idaho College where he would set a standard for the NJCAA over the next two decades. First as an assistant to Hall of Fame coach Les Hogan, and then as head coach. His NIC teams compiled a dual record of 304-23-2, and placed in the top-3 at nationals 18 of 20 years, including eight NJCAA national championships. 35 Cardinals won NJCAA titles and Owen coached a total of 118 All-Americans. He was names NJCAA Coach of the Year four times.

Owen returned to the high school ranks when his sons competed at that level. First as an assistant with this brother Don at University HS, then two stints at Central Valley and West Valley in Spokane. At CV his teams placed 3rd and 4th and saw eight Bears win championships among 28 state place winners. Owen was named 4A Coach of the Year in 2016.

His coaching extended beyond the high school and college levels as Owen served as Head Coach for the Junior Pan American Team in 1979, Head Freestyle Coach of Team USA vs Cuba in 1991 and Russia in 1992. He was the WSWA Deputy Director from 2002-2007.

Many honors have been bestowed upon Owen during his career including NJCAA Hall of Fame in 1989, Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005, World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame (ID) in 2008, North Idaho College Hall of Fame in 2010, Inland Northwest Hall of Fame in 2012.

John and his wife Janet have four children; Jennifer, Nicole, Tommy and Brian. They are fortunate to have seven grandchildren; Owen, Brady, Hilie, Brynlynn, Ryder, Lucas, Asher and an eighth on the way. Owen continues to coach at the Inland Northwest Training Center, has retired from teaching, and is enjoying time fishing near his new home on Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Zillah High School
Pullman High School

Daniel Robillard wrestled at Granger HS where he was a three-time state placer and the class valedictorian in 1984. After a year coaching at Pullman HS, Robillard spent thirty years coaching at Zillah HS, including 25 as an assistant and five as the head coach. During his time at Zillah, the Leopards had a dual meet record of 254-80-2, and they won 13 league titles, 15 district titles, and three Regional championships. The Zillah teams won three state championships, one with Robillard as the head coach and two as an assistant coach. They also earned top-4 trophies seven other times. Robillard has coached 22 state champions and 125 state place winners. Coach Robillard was named Regional Assistant Coach of the Year twice.

Robillard also had a storied career in other sports while at Zillah. In 2011 Robillard was named to the WSCA Hall of Fame for Softball after leading the Leopard to 529 wins, three state championships and four other state trophies in his 30 years as head coach. His softball teams won four Academic State Championships and had 30 straight years of WIAA Academic Achievement Awards. Robillard has been a head or assistant coach in volleyball and football, and served as president of the Zillah Coaches Association for 17 years. Robillard has completed his 90th consecutive season coaching at Zillah.

Warden High School

John Voss graduated from Warden High School in 1972 where he participated in football and wrestled for future Hall of Fame coach Darrell White. Voss married his wife Janice in 1976, and their children Lee and Stacy followed a few years later. Voss graduated from Eastern Washington University in 1980. He got his first teaching assignment in Rigby, Idaho in 1981, and then moved to Harrington, WA where he taught for the next four years. In 1985 Voss returned to Warden where he has primarily taught high school math.

He joined to the Warden wrestling program in 1987 when he began his 25 year stay as the assistant coach. During these years Warden won 23 undefeated league titles, seven state championships, three second-place finishes, a third and fourth place finish, and ten Dream Duals championships. Voss’ JV (white) squad scored enough points at state to place second to the varsity (blue) on two separate occasions. Both Voss and Hall of Fame head coach Rick Bowers completed their Master’s Degree through Eastern Washington University and won a state title in the same year.

Voss did whatever was necessary to help the program, including volunteering countless hours the middle school and Little Guy wrestling teams. Some of his primary duties included injury evaluation and rehab, stats, showing technique, particularly leg rides and counters. Voss never missed a practice or event, and his JV squad had a sepa ate schedule which he would drive anywhere in the state to get his team the level of competition they needed.

Decatur High School
Seattle Christian

Following his time at Seattle Christian, Mike Bressler moved to the Federal Way School District in 1997 and quickly established himself as an extraordinary coach and teacher. His first teaching position was at Lakota Junior High where he taught history and served as the Head Football Coach where they won a district title in 1998. At the same time, Mike took over the head wrestling position at Decatur High School. During his tenure there, he took a struggling program and made it a state power earning three regional titles, three SPSL championships, two SPSL NW division titles, and one central division championship. Individual wrestlers accrued eight state titles - two of them as two timers, including his son Kyle - fifteen state finalists and 37 individual state medalists. As a team, Decatur finished second in state twice and became a consistent top ten team.

Bressler was a two-time state champion competing for Darryl Whitmore at Evergreen High School and was a four-year varsity athlete at the University of Washington. He was a Captain, and Outstanding Wrestler who placed second in the PAC 10 two times, twice earning a spot as a national qualifier.

Coach Bressler has been recognized as SPSL Coach of the Year four times and a two-time State Coach of the Year. Mike’s accomplishments as a coach speak for themselves, but it is his commitment to family which includes his wife, Kathy, daughter, Laura, and two sons, Jason and Kyle, that speaks to his heart and character.

LaConner High School
Anacortes High School
Burlington-Edison High School

Mike Compton was a conference champion and Most Inspirational Wrestler at Western Washington State College in 1970. After a time away from the sport, Compton coached at Burlington-Edison High School for six years where the Tigers had a dual record of 64-8-1, won three league and region titles, and won the 1993 AA State championship.

His first season in Anacortes the team had a dual record of 2-7. Three years later the Seahawks finished as the dual and league champions along with a Dream Duals championship. Over a four year span starting in 1998 Compton’s teams had a dual record of 63-6 and won four league titles.

Compton moved to LaConner High School as the athletic director, where he also started the LaConner wrestling program. The program grew over the years and Compton saw the Braves reach the top-10 in state before his retirement.

Over his career, Compton coached 48 league champions, 27 region champions, 49 state placers including nine state champions who won twelve individual titles.

Compton has been recognized by a variety of organizations for his work, including being named as the AAA State Coach of the Year in 1999, four time regional coach of the year, six time league coach of the year, Snohomish Count Wrestling Officials’ coach of the year, and he received the Campbell/Driscoll/Reiman Award by the Whatcom and Skagit County Officials Associations. The Anacortes American recognized Compton with the “Best Coach Award” four times.

He has served as a LaConner School Board Member, was the Grand Marshall of the Anacortes Women of Today Parade, and served as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Upper Volta West Africa in the early 1970’s. Compton and his wife Reesa have four children; Christina, Katy, Liz and Evelyn.

University High School

A four-sport high school athlete, Don Owen placed second in state as a freshman and sophomore, then went undefeated as a junior to win the state championship. A two-time Tri-State champ, his undefeated senior year was cut short by a knee injury. Owen would continue his athletic career at North Idaho College where he won two region championships, placed third in the nation, and was a two-year letter winner in baseball. After transferring to Brigham Young, he was a two-time WAC champion and was named the WAC Outstanding Wrestler his senior year. Owen was ranked third in the nation his senior year finishing with a 34-2 record and won 154 matches over his college career.

Owen began his coaching career as an assistant at the University of Montana in 1981, and moved back to North Idaho as an assistant in 1982 where the Cardinals placed first and second in the nation during his two years.

From 1983-1989 Owen was the head coach at Couer d’Alene High School where he coached five individual state champions. Then in 1989 he moved to University High School in Spokane, taking over as head coach in 1994 where Owen would remain until his retirement from coaching in 2019. The Titans had a dual record of 241-43 during his tenure and a total high school coaching record of 311-53, with 3 State Titles, 20 top ten finishes, 11 state trophies, 12 GSL titles, 9 District titles, and 4 Region titles. Owen coached 129 individual state places that included 28 individual state champions. Among those wrestlers were three high school All-Americans and one Honorable Mention. Owen’s lasting legacy may be his 33 former wrestlers that are currently successfully coaching.

Castle Rock High School

Lake Roosevelt High School

Kentwood High School

Rogers High School

Ferris High School

Ellensburg / Selah

Ellensburg / CWU (Asst)

Sedro Wooley High School (Asst)

Puyallup / Orting High School

Bryan Bartelson competed at Puyallup High School for Hall of Fame coach George Wilfong (Class

of 1997) where he placed third in his senior year. After high school he jumped right into

coaching at Puyallup and Edgemont Junior High. His first head coaching position was at Orting

MS before he returned to Edgemont as the head coach.

Bartelson took over at Orting High School in 1990 where he spent twelve years guiding the

Cardinals to seven league titles and a fifth place state finish in 1994 along with two state

champions. Twice he was named as the Nisqually League Coach of the Year and in 2000

Bartelson was selected as the Regional Coach of the Year and the State Coach of the Year for

the AA classification. He was honored as the 2002 AA Sportsman Coach of the Year at Mat

Classic.

The opportunity to return to his alma mater brought him back to PHS. During this first stint as

head coach six Vikings placed at state, including Whitney Conder who was one of only a few

females to place in the boys division, which she did twice. After four years back at Edgemont,

Bartelson returned to Puyallup to guide the girls program and was one of the coaches to lead

the charge for more opportunities for female wrestlers. Their two daughters earned eight top-3

state medals while wrestling for the Vikings as Jordyn was the state’s second female 4-time

state champion and Brooklyn placed 2nd, 3rd, 2nd and 1st.

In 2017 Bryan transitioned to coach the boys squad again as the Vikings earned eight state

medals with one state champion. Their son Chance was a state competitor for PHS. For many

years Bartelson also coached youth wrestling programs in Puyallup and Fife.

For 30+ years Bryan and Jenny built a successful trucking company while raising their children.

They are now “semi-retired” and enjoying their world travels.

Kelso High School

Bob Freund has been part of the Kelso wrestling program for almost 40 years. First as a wrestler

where he placed in the state tournament twice. He was coached by Jim Schall (Hall of Fame

Class of 1985) through his junior year. Freund continued his wrestling career at Washington

State University, and when the program was dropped he transferred to Pacific Lutheran

University where he was coached by Jim Meyerhoff (Class of 1989) and Chris Wolfe (Class of

2014) where he earned two All-American finishes. He was an assistant coach at PLU for two

years.

In 1991 Freund returned to Kelso as the head wrestling coach where he still teaches and

coaches after 32 years. From 1991-1995 he also coached at Lower Columbia College as an

assistant and head coach. During his career at Kelso, the Hilanders have had considerable

success winning 21 district championships and 14 state tournament trophies along with 23 top-

10 finishes. Kelso boys and girls teams have won seven academic team state championships.

159 Kelso wrestlers earned state tournament medals including 28 state champions and 15

runner-up finishes. 43 wrestlers were honored with individual weight class academic state

championships. 17 Kelso wrestlers have moved on to wrestle in college.

He was heavily involved in the freestyle and Greco state programs as a national team coach and

the women’s director. There are 18 Fargo All-Americans from Kelso including five runners-up

and six national champions. Freund led the first girls teams to compete at Fargo that included

2nd and 3rd place national finishes.

The WSWCA benefitted from Freund’s service as president and vice-president for many years,

and he has helped organize the annual coaches clinics. Bob has twice been selected as the

NWCA Regional Coach of the Year.

Bob and Denise have four children; Averie, Christian,

Ellie and Ethan. Each competed at state and between them earned four state championships

and seven total medals.

Marysville-Pilchuck High SchoolWhile wrestling at Marysville-Pilchuck for his father Rick (Hall of Fame Class of 1999) Craig

Iversen was a four-time state competitor and won two state championships. He competed at

Central Washington where he placed fifth in the 1991 NAIA national tournament.

Following college Craig assisted for the Sedro Woolley wrestling program and was the head

coach at Burlington-Edison HS from 1994 to 1999. When his father retired in 1999 Craig moved

to Marysville-Pilchcuck High School as a social studies teacher and head wrestling coach.

Iversen remained in that role until stepping down in 2019, and he currently contributes to the

program as an assistant coach.

During his twenty year stint as head coach of the Tomahawks, Iversen’s teams had a record of

212-82 (72%). This record made him the winningest head coach in MPHS history previously held

by Rick Iversen. MP teams won five district titles. Craig has coached two state champions in the

boys division and as the current girls assistant coach he has coached Tomahawk wrestlers to

two state championships. Iversen was instrumental in getting the girls program started at

Marysville-Pilchuck.

Iversen continues to teach and coach at MPHS, is a department head and senior class adviser.

He has served on the executive board of the Marysville Education Association and as president

of the Marysville Coaches Association. Craig and Colleen have one daughter, Taylor.

Deer Park High School

Matt Jorgensen has been involved with wrestling in the Deer Park community since 1995 when

he started working with the Loon Lake Little Guy wrestling program. From 2001-2003 he

coached at the middle school, and in 2004 Matt became the head coach at Deer Park High

School where he would remain until his coaching retirement in 2021.

During his tenure at DPHS, the Stags compiled at dual meet record of 171-51 (77%), won seven

league championships and four district titles, and six regional tournament titles. Deer Park has

twice been selected as the Inland Northwest Team of the Year.

The Stags were a dominant force in the Tacoma Dome winning eight state championships - six

in the 2A division and two in 1A - which included a run of five straight titles. For thirteen

straight years Jorgensen’s teams earned a state trophy by placing in the top-four. He coached

25 individual state champions that were part of 110 individual medalists. He has twice been

selected as the State Coach of the Year. He served as one of the national team coaches in Fargo

for two years.

Jorgensen is a Battalion Chief in the Spokane Valley Fire Department. He and his wife Shannon

have four children; Ryan, Jason, Tysen and Matthew.l

Bellarmine High SchoolGrowing up in Longview, Kevin Kalal attended RA Long High School where he wrestled for his

father Fred (Hall of Fame Class of 1996) and played football and golf. He attended Washington

State University where he was the student manager for the Cougar baseball team, and

graduated in 1991 with a degree in Sport Management.

Kalal’s long-time role as an assistant coach at Bellarmine Prep in 1992, and he continues to

coach for the Lions. Over that span he helped coach two state champions and 16 medalists. He

was named as the Assistant Coach of the Year multiple times in the Narrows League and South

Puget Sound League and was selected as the Regional Assistant Coach of the Year four times.

Kalal’s contributions to both leagues over the last 32 seasons have included managing the

seeding meetings and running Narrows league tournaments as well as regional tournaments

and local events. He is a number-cruncher and enjoys compiling statistics that are valuable to

the seeding and coaching process.

Washington state has benefitted from his efforts as Kalal served as the WSWCA Public Relations

Manager in the early 90’s, and for the past 8 years he has helped manage the media at Mat

Classic, serving as Media Manager for the past three tournaments. Kevin is also the treasurer

for the Washington Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Baseball continues to be a large part of Kalal’s life as he was the assistant general manager of

the Tacoma Rainiers for 17 years, and still serves as an official scorekeeper for the club along

with working for the Seattle Mariners in the visiting clubhouse. For his service to baseball Kalal

was inducted into the Tacoma-Pierce County Baseball/Softball Hall of Fame. Kalal, a past

president of the Tacoma Athletic Commission and Secretary/Treasurer for the Narrows League,

was the Facilities Director at Bellarmine for 12 years and currently works in the facilities

department at Highline College. He has a son, Jensen (19) and a daughter, Leah (16).