The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

REARDAN - Freshman Tristan Newman is content to revel in the prospect of being the lone Tiger going to the state wrestling meet at the Tacoma Dome Friday and Saturday, but only for a moment.

He's quick to point out that he wouldn't have gotten this far without all his years as a "little guy" in Waits­burg's "Matbird" program (a nod to his parents and coaches) or his teammates on the Waitsburg-Prescott wrestling team.

"I wish they could be there with me," he said about the other Tigers who helped him hone his skills and take him out of his comfort zone this past year.

Newman, who has been a wrestler since he was 5, placed third in his weight class (285 pounds) at the re­gional meet in Reardan this weekend. Four other Tiger wrestlers - Brandon Aceves, James Thompkins, Jesse Rawson and Steven Grimes - competed at Reardan but failed to advance, though they still drew ample praise from their head coach.

"For these guys to make it to this level of competition is awesome," WP coach Lanny Adams said about the first- time wrestlers. "I'm proud of them for their effort and determination."

Newman is the first WP wrestler in the two-year-old Tigers program to make it to state.

"Tristan has had one heck of a freshman year," he said. "The biggest problem we have to deal with in prac­tice is finding someone big enough to wrestle with him."

After receiving a bye in the first round, New­man pinned his first op­ponent, from Liberty Bell High School, in under two minutes. He lost against a second competitor from Mary Walker High School in Springdale, but beat a third one from Lind Ritzville by pinning him in the second round. Newman won his last match, scheduled against a wrestler from Roosevelt, thanks to an injury default.

"I anticipated he'd be able to make it to state," Adams said. "He did really well."

In describing his ap­proach to the winning matches, Newman said took advantage of most heavier wrestlers' tendency to stand straight and use their supe­rior top-down strength by using his throws and shots to get the other wrestler on his back.

Being a younger wrestler with less muscle strength compared to older oppo­nents, Newman has boosted his speed and tactical posi­tioning with the help of his teammates and coaches.

"You don't see a lot of heavyweights doing single and double leg takedowns," Adams said. "That is why we have been practicing doing it. It has worked too. Tristan has shot in on a couple of his opponents and by the time that they figured out that someone was shoot­ing on them, they were on their back with Tristan on top holding them down."

Having been on the mat for a decade, Newman, 15, said he can see his tactical possibilities from watching other wrestlers' stances and body language. To get ready for Tacoma, he now needs boost his endurance and im­prove the moves he already knows.

"I think that as Tristan matures on the mat and gains more experience, he will be a contender and be consid­ered as a threat to the other heavyweights out there," Adams said. "I anticipate more trips to the Tacoma Dome with Tristan."

Though none of the other Tigers moved on to state, Adams gave them each an "A" for their effort on the mat at Reardan.

Wrestling in the 138-lbs class, James Thompkins won his first match by pin­ning his opponent from Kit­titas in the third round before losing his remaining two matches (he had one bye) to wrestlers from Selkirk and Reardan.

"He was put into some pretty tough moves that should have pinned him, but because of his determination to not get pinned and his attitude that he is not going to get pinned, he got out of those predicaments," Adams said. "After his second loss, he came up to me and told me, "sorry coach, I lost." I told him to not be sorry. He had a great season."

Thompkins faced op­ponents who were much more experienced, his coach said. The same was true for Aceves (132 lbs) and Raw­son (152 lbs), who both lost their first-round matches and faced an uphill battle for the remainder of the meet.

"Unfortunately, these two both lost two matches in a row and were elimi­nated early on," Adams said. "They both wrestled hard."

Steven Grimes hung in there longer, getting pins in his first and third matches in the 170-lbs class.

"Steven is one of those athletes every coach wishes he or she had," Adams said. "It's been a long time since I have seen an athlete with as much heart as Steven."

Bent on improving his skills, Grimes would sit in the stands, watch other matches and analyze them, his coach said.

"When Steven would walk out onto that mat, he was ready to wrestle," Ad­ams said. "Once the whistle blew Steven starting moving and continued to move. A lot of Steven's success this year was due to him constantly moving. He would force his opponent to make a mistake and he would take advantage of that mistake which usu­ally resulted in him getting his hand raised at the end of the match."