Yelm’s gymnasium was packed with several wrestling mats and four teams filled with hungry athletes as the Tornados hosted their first-ever Christmas tournament on Dec. 21. The Tornados competed against Gig Harbor, Oak Harbor and Nathan Hale.
The Tornados swept the competition. They defeated the Gig Harbor Tides, 67-24, the Oak Harbor Wildcats, 54-21, and the Nathan Hale Raiders, 60-18.
“The Christmas quad tournament was a lot of fun. I wish I would’ve been doing this a lot earlier. Oak Harbor is being coached by Aaron McBride, a state wrestler from Yelm back in the ’90s. It was fun having his team come down in my last year. My former college teammate brought his team down, too: Nathan Hale,” Yelm’s head coach, Gaylord Strand, said. “We had some pretty good performances out of a lot of the guys.”
Strand said the team saw strong performances from Andrei Buban, Wesley Thompson, AJ Erickson and others at the Christmas tournament. He noted that Buban, a 126-pound junior, is a first-year wrestler. He picked up three pins on the day.
“He came to the open mat and had about five weeks of getting in shape there. He stuck with it, and he’s a fast learner. He’s athletic. He’s having success, and he’s on fire right now,” Strand said. “He’s got some good kids to work with and good coaches. Everyone is helping out. He’s learning the Yelm way.”
Strand noted that Thompson, 132 pounds, picked up two pin victories and a forfeit win at the tournament, while his teammate Erickson, 150 pounds, added three pin victories of his own. Erickson extended his win-loss record to 10-0, with 10 wins via pin.
“AJ has got a vengeance coming after last year. He made it to the Mat Classic and didn’t place. He got to sit up in the stands and watch his teammates place,” Strand said. “That’s created a burning desire in him to place at state and stand at the podium. He’s put in a lot of work and he’s seeing the benefits now.”
Strand added that heavyweight Jonah Smith, who wrestled just one match at the tournament, picked up a win via pinfall.
“Jonah hasn’t had much of a season to begin with, but he’s left off where he was last year at state. He’s quicker. He’s also undefeated with six pins and six wins,” Strand said. “Right after Christmas, we’ll go to Gut Check and get a good test of where he’s at.”
Strand said the Gut Check Tournament is the team’s toughest of the season. Teams from Washington, Hawaii, Idaho, Alaska and Oregon will all be present for the tournament on Dec. 28.
“It should be a good, competitive tournament. There’s a lot of good state championship teams from Washington. Our kids are going against high-caliber wrestlers that they’d probably see at state,” Strand said. “When they come back from that Gut Check, it puts a whole new perspective on their workout ethic and where it needs to be because they’re only a month away from districts.”
He said the Lake Stevens tournament on Jan 13, like Gut Check, will provide the Tornados with a great test prior to the postseason.
“There’s a lot of good kids around our area, too. You don’t have to go really far,” Strand said. “But it’s nice to see some kids outside of our area so you know what to expect at the regional meet.”
Overall, Strand said he wished he had hosted the Christmas tournament sooner.
“It was a fast tournament, and everyone had fun. We gave candy canes to opponents during warmups, and we wore Christmas hats during our warmups, too. Everybody got mat time. We had some success, and it was a good day, overall. Right now, our team is 6-0 in dual meets,” Strand said. “I got my team back. We’re building and getting stronger. We’re coming together as a team, and I’m looking forward to January. If we can keep everyone healthy and eligible, we’ll do really well.”
