TACOMA — In a coaching career that dates back to his time at the helm of what was then called Western Washington State College beginning in 1972, Rick Iversen has seen just about everything there is to see in wrestling.
But this year’s edition of the Arlington Eagles has surprised the veteran coach at every postseason turn, culminating with his squad sitting third in the team standings after Day 1 at Mat Classic XXVII at the Tacoma Dome, just seven points behind first-place Enumclaw and 6.5 back of North Central.
Iversen and his staff planned for the 2015-16 season as the one that would announce Arlington to the world of Washington prep wrestling as a new force to be reckoned with in Class 3A. The Eagles arrived a year ahead of schedule.
After never winning a postseason tournament in the history of the program, Arlington won its sub-regional and regional by an average of 66.5 points, completely obliterating all of Iversen’s expectations.
“At (sub-regionals) I did not think we had a realistic chance to win,” he said. “And at regionals, a lot of our JV kids scored points with pins that helped us along, but all of them are gone now. This is just such a wonderful thing — a real Cinderella story.”
Arlington dominated a sub-regional and regional filled with teams that have combined to place a staggering 14 wrestlers into the Class 3A semifinals on Friday. This is one of the best wrestling leagues in the state this season, and after struggling to find its way in the regular season, the Eagles are hammering the best of them on the biggest stage.
Four of those semifinalists wear Navy blue and Vegas gold — junior Jeremy Nygard and freshman Gavin Rork (both at 126 pounds), sophomore 145-pounder Cooper McAuslan and junior 160-pounder Ruben Crew, whose emergence out of nowhere is emblematic of the wacky ride that Arlington is on.
Crew wrestled in Arlington and Stanwood youth programs with his twin brother A.J. from a very young age. The Crews are home-schooled, but they wrestled for Lake Stevens until this season.
They practiced with the Eagles all season, but were not eligible to compete until the sub-regional meet, where Ruben Crew placed second behind Marysville Pilchuck’s Keith Pablo, and A.J. Crew finished third.
At regionals, Ruben Crew beat Pablo for third place, and even though A.J. Crew missed out on competing at Mat Classic after qualifying as an alternate, he has been a vocal member of Arlington’s cheering section rooting on his brother.
“I never would have thought it in a million years,” Iversen said of Ruben Crew’s reaching the state semifinals after not competing for Arlington until two weeks ago. “But he rounded us out real nice. Every kid we brought has given us something.”
For Nygard, by far the most accomplished of Arlington’s miracle Eagles, seeing his school’s placard up on the wall of the Tacoma Dome with Class 3A powers like Enumclaw and North Central (five team titles between them since 2008), signals an arrival.
“It’s been really crazy,” he said of the last few weeks. “All of these young guys and new guys who have come in this year have made us so much better. For us to be competing to be on that board and to show everyone who Arlington is when they had no idea before … it’s just crazy.”
Iversen isn’t ready to label his team as state championship contenders yet. There is, after all, plenty of wrestling to come on Saturday, including a fascinating subplot at 126 pounds, where the four semifinalists are Nygard, Rork and a pair of Enumclaw wrestlers.
If Nygard and Rork win and take those team points away from the Hornets, “it would be huge,” Iversen said.
But the old coach has long abandoned his two-year plan for Arlington’s grand debut.
“Anything that happens tomorrow is just frosting on the cake,” Iversen said with a laugh. “But who are we to throw this year away if we have an opportunity?”
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