The most relaxed wrestler always wins.
That’s according to one former Rainier High School wrestler, as it’s a tradition in the program for past athletes to write letters to future athletes passing on their state experience and wisdom.
In sophomore Chloe Willis’ case, the most relaxed wrestler stood atop the podium at Mat Classic XXXVI Saturday, Feb. 22 as Rainier’s first ever female state champion. She took home the top prize in the 1B/2B/1A 190-pound bracket.
Willis, in her first trip to the Tacoma Dome, was calm and collected in the four hours between her semifinal match and the title bout. She spent the time with her teammates and working on a gameplan while not overthinking or adding pressure to herself. She didn’t even know she was already the highest placing girl in school history, regardless of the outcome of the first-place match.
“It means a lot to me. I didn’t know that at all. That just gave me goosebumps,” Willis said when asked about becoming the first female state champion at Rainier.
Her final foe was a familiar one in Tenino’s Ynavi Rodriguez, who got the best of the eventual state champ on two prior occasions this season, both in first-place matches. Rodriguez first beat her in the Viking Invitational on Feb. 1, and she knocked her off again in the District 4 1B/2B/1A tournament on Feb. 15 for the 190 district crown.
Like the previous two matches, the title bout was a war. Willis fell behind in the first period and didn’t register a point until an escape with 21 seconds left. After Rodriguez jumped in front 5-1 with a reversal, Willis roared back to tie it thanks to a stalling call on her opponent as well as another escape and a last-second takedown in the second frame.
“My mindset was that I was trying to tire her out. I knew what moves she was going to try to pull off, so I tried to counter those moves,” Willis said.
Her plan worked gracefully. Bearing a nose plug in her right nostril, Willis worked her way out of a couple of jams and took a late 7-6 lead on a reversal with 64 seconds remaining in the match. She sealed the win by pinning Rodriguez on her back with just 19 ticks left, and she celebrated by jumping into coach Kelli Garner’s arms and hugging everyone in her path.
“A lot was going through my mind. It took me a long time to process that I’m actually a state champion and that I finally beat Ynavi after so many times,” Willis said.
Willis started the season in the 235-pound bracket, grinding through numerous matchups with teammate Ryleigh Cruse in many unoccupied tournament brackets. She worked her way down to the 190 division and made her debut in the Iron Sharpens Iron tournament Jan. 18. Just five weeks later, she stood alone as the top 190 wrestler in the state.
“I put in so much work to get down to 190. Those battles [with Ryleigh] taught me not to have expectations. Don’t go in expecting you’re gonna win every single time,” Willis said. “Just give your 100% effort and try your best.”
Willis was one of three Rainier girls to place in the top five at the Mat Classic, as Keira Anderson took fourth in the 170-pound division and Cruse earned fifth at 235 in her first time under the Dome lights.
Anderson made her way to the semifinals by way of a hard-fought win over White Swan’s Bethany Queahpama in the quarterfinals. She suffered just her second loss of the season in the semis to Granger’s Sonia Mendoza via a 9-5 decision. Anderson fell a third time in the third-place match to Royal’s Madisen Christensen by another decision, this time by a score of 7-4.
“I’m definitely very grateful. I knew it wasn’t over,” Anderson said of bouncing back from her semifinals loss. “I’ve worked so hard all season. I couldn’t give up even though I lost.”
Cruse bounced back from back-to-back losses by pin in the semis and consolation semis to quickly defeat Colfax’s Dory Doty in the fifth-place match. She joins her older brother Ryder as state medalists as he earned sixth in last year’s Mat Classic in the 285 bracket.
“I was really down. I really wanted to win in the semis,” Cruse said. “But it’s my sophomore year. I’m gonna come back better than ever. It’s 90% a mental thing, and it beat me today. But fifth is a big accomplishment. It’s definitely not where I wanted to be, but it means a lot to me to be able to follow Ryder and to place.”
Rainier finished seventh out of 77 schools in the 1B/2B/1A state tournament with 87 points, just one point shy of Castle Rock’s 88. The Mountaineers had help from Annabelle Whiteman, 140, who advanced to the quarterfinals before losing two straight. Layla Hill, 125, picked up a first-round win Friday, Feb. 21 but lost in overtime Saturday to Cashmere’s Ruby Edwards in the consolation round.
Lauryn Lapine, 105, Dakota Gardner, 110, and Faithe Jarvis, 235, each moved on to the second day of the Mat Classic but were unable to leave with a win under their belt.
When Garner first joined the coaching staff in 2019, she had just three girls on her team. Six years later, she had three placers in the Tacoma Dome and eight who made it to day two.
“I’d like to imagine that there isn’t a ceiling for this program. I just want to see it grow and grow and just keep getting as big as it can,” she said.
