Ben Hawk, longtime Yelm resident and 20-year wrestling coach, will begin a new chapter in his journey on the mat this month as he was officially named Yelm High School’s girls wrestling head coach.
Hawk, hired on Thursday, Oct. 24, said he’s extremely excited to get back into high school coaching. His experience as a coach includes over 20 college wrestlers, two international wrestlers on Team USA, one national champion junior women’s freestyle wrestler, two national finalist junior women’s freestyle wrestlers and three multiple-time All-Americans in junior freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. Hawk has also coached over 100 state medalists and over 30 state finalists. He’s also impacted local wrestlers in Yelm at the youth level through the Yelm Twisters wrestling club.
“I saw that there’s already been a group of girls out rolling around on the mat, which was really cool to see. There’s a large group, and they’ve been recruiting girls. I spoke with them and told them that we’re in this together, and we’re going to work hard at getting better at wrestling every day. We’re going to show up and get better, and overcome any obstacles ahead of us,” Hawk told the Nisqually Valley News on Sunday, Nov. 10. “The girls program has had a lot of success over the last few decades of girls wrestling. They’ve been a leader in it, and I hope to continue that success and tradition — that we’re a leader in women’s wrestling.”
YHS girls wrestling will have its first practice of the 2024-25 season on Monday, Nov. 18. Each wrestler will compete throughout the season with dreams of wrestling inside the Tacoma Dome this February at the annual Mat Classic. The team will return 2024 3A 135-pound runner-up Samantha Blank and Kylie Minker, who won a match in 2024 at the annual state tournament.
“I think those girls are already showing motivation to improve,” Hawk said. “They’ve got their own goals there, but we have a very talented team, especially the way they’re shaking up the postseason and splitting 3A and 4A. There’s a good group of upperclassmen that’s been wrestling for a while, and they placed really high at regionals and the league tournament.”
The changes to the 2025 Mat Classic will include a split between the 3A and 4A classifications on the girls side of the brackets, allowing for more competitors from each to earn their way to state with individual brackets. Hawk added that there won’t be a regional tournament either, with the road to the Mat Classic just including the South Puget Sound League tournament and the district tournament.
“We’re going to be 4A for the first time, and there’s a 4A state championship for the first time ever, too. They split the 3A/4A bracket because it used to be one big event,” he said. “They’re split into classifications now. We have a very talented team, and getting as many girls out to state and as many athletes out there to support them would be fun to see.”
Hawk said his vision for the YHS girls wrestling program is to continue its rich culture and to continue involving the community. He’ll have the opportunity to host his first girls high school tournament on Saturday, Dec. 7, at Yelm High School in the first ever “Prairie Open.”
“We have teams from all over the state, including southwest Washington, central Washington, Kamiak and some northern teams as well,” Hawk said. “It will be a fun-filled day, and it will be my first crack at hosting a girls high school tournament with the first ever Prairie Open.”
He expects the product the community will see on the mat during the event will feature fundamental wrestling skills from his athletes. The coach also expects to see some “really fun results” at the culmination of the 17-week season.
“We have the expectation that when you show up at the door, you commit to the development of fundamental skills in wrestling and that you buy into the culture that we’re here to improve. Everyone in the room is there to improve. We’re going to become better wrestlers,” Hawk said. “My larger thought process is that it’s such a difficult sport. When you become really good at wrestling, the process that it takes, the amount of hard work — it teaches you a lot about self discipline and self assessment. It makes people better.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun this season. I think the girls’ expectations of themselves will drive them to be successful. I’m just going to give them the tools and motivate them to be in the right positions to get that success,” Hawk said. “Support the girls. Come on out. We’re going to have a really competitive team, and we’ll host a few home matches throughout the season.”
