PREP NOTEBOOK: Cook twins honored with simultaneous Hall of Fame induction
Published 4:01 pm Monday, April 27, 2009
The Cook brothers share so many similarities. Here comes another one.
Bruce Cook and Bryce Cook — identical twin brothers who were longtime wrestling coaches in Snohomish County — will both be inducted into the Washington State Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame May 16 at the King Oscar Motel and Convention Center in Tacoma.
The Cooks were state-champion wrestlers at Burlington-Edison High School and competed at Washington State University, where they were roommates. Bruce Cook went on to coach wrestling and teach 30 years at Meadowdale High. Bryce Cook coached and taught at Edmonds, Woodway and Edmonds-Woodway, also for a total of 30 years. They both retired from coaching in 1993.
Bruce Cook’s Meadowdale teams won two state team championships and had eight individual champions. Bryce Cook coached six individual state champs and his teams had a record of 255-103-2.
“I can’t think of two more deserving guys for this honor,” said Brad Cook, one of Bruce’s sons.
The Cook brothers’ teams were generally among the best in the area. Their head-to-head league dual meet — which usually happened right after Christmas — was always a highly anticipated, memorable event, Brad Cook said.
“Growing up as a kid, it was an interesting dynamic,” Brad Cook said of the friendly yet intense coaching rivalry between his dad and his uncle.
The Cook twins married their high school sweethearts, Brad Cook said, and live in adjacent houses near Big Lake in Mount Vernon.
For more information about the National Wrestling Hall of Fame ceremony and to order tickets, call 253-445-4196 or send an e-mail to jmeyerhoff@comcast.net.
Reader poll: Best local boys soccer team?
In an online poll, readers picked Marysville-Pilchuck and Shorecrest as the area’s best boys soccer teams. Unbeaten Marysville-Pilchuck (10-0-2) and Shorecrest (11-1-0) both received 25 percent of the votes. Western Conference North Division-leading M-P (32 points) has a huge game tonight against second-place Snohomish (10-2-1, 31 points) in Marysville. To participate in prep sports reader polls, go to cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.
Another batch of college signings
The following student-athletes signed or committed to play collegiate sports: Everett’s Elizabeth Reed (LaSalle University softball); Arlington’s Kristen Allen (Purdue University softball); Marysville-Pilchuck’s Emily Boerger (Western Washington University volleyball); Marysville-Pilchuck’s Jadelyn Thompson (Pacific University). Three athletes signed with the Skagit Valley College women’s soccer team: Lake Stevens’ Kaitlin Evans, Jackson’s Lauren Staudacher and Snohomish’s Erika Wenger.
Oak Harbor hires girls soccer coach
Jeff Laiblin has been hired to coach the Oak Harbor girls soccer team. Laiblin has 11 years of prep head coaching experience and “a great deal of enthusiasm to work with the players at Oak Harbor High School,” Oak Harbor athletic director Nicki Luper wrote in an e-mail. Laiblin takes over a team that this past fall won one game finished at the bottom of the nine-team Wesco North.
Physical exams offered in Oak Harbor
The Oak Harbor Wildcat Booster Club’s Sports Physical Night is June 4 at Oak Harbor High’s stadium. Student-athletes can get physical exams from 5-7 p.m. The cost is $30 for an individual or $60 per family. For more details, call 360-279-5708.
Mike Cane, 425-339-3471 mcane@heraldnet.com
