South Kitsap’s wrestling teams find themselves facing different challenges heading into the meat of the 2023-24 season—the boys having their hopes set on making another big impact in state while the girls find themselves with some new outside adversity to overcome.
The Wolves saw their aspirations for a boys state championship fall just short in a second-place finish at the 2023 Mat Classic. Every single boy to wrestle for SK in that tournament, including graduated state champions Mitchell Neiner and Phillip Chobot, found ways to contribute to the team’s point total.
For any other team, the loss of two state champs to graduation would hurt its chances, but coach Conner Hartmann said that won’t be the case with returning state placers like Stone Hartford and Braden Shook leading the way. “Meanwhile, there’s other kids who are able to step up and be leaders,” he said. “We’ll be plenty OK.”
South Kitsap found itself in that second spot in early team rankings, behind the team that beat them out last year in Chiawana. It gives the team something to look forward to as a challenge, but Hartmann hopes to continue building his wrestlers up in a “fail fast” mentality. “We’re still in learning mode. In the end, if you lose a match sometimes early on, it doesn’t really matter. All that matters is that we’re preparing to be our best selves when February comes,” he said.
The Wolves’ girls had plenty to celebrate last year, too. Roster size more than tripled, and graduate Monica Kaiser brought home a state title in the 145-pound class.
Coach Quinn Ogan hopes to bring more girls to that title stage. Senior “Rosemary Brooks is probably looking to make a run to the state tournament this year, so she’s a big focus. (Junior) Tayla Abundis, she’s going to be pretty tough this year. So we got some girls we’re trying to push through.”
However, the main focus is growing the young program. Of the roughly 14 girls on this year’s roster, only six made the trip to the recent 2023 Hammerhead Tournament due to a mixture of circumstances. For example, one girl, a promising freshman, is reportedly leaving due to a family move out of state.
Ogan said, “Really the big focus now is trying to grow the program as a whole so we can fill a whole roster.”
One reason it’s been tougher this year is the new girls flag football team, which he said cost him at least five girls. “I mean, it’s great. It’s another sport to give them all their opportunities to go compete, so I’m really just harping on keeping the girls that are wrestling in middle school now and not losing them to flag football.”
