TACOMA — Krys DuPree had a clear goal for Lake Stevens girls wrestling after the team won its second straight District 1 4A Championship at Jackson High School on Feb. 6.
The Vikings coach wanted to at least match last year’s third-place finish at the state championship. As much as he had faith in the wrestlers who qualified, he knew the team result would come down to other factors as well.
“The goal is still the same: to be a top three team,” DuPree said on Feb. 6. “Obviously you want to be number one. But in a perfect world, you get a perfect seeding and see how the brackets align. At the end of the day, you got to wrestle who you got to wrestle, but if you get a better seeding in one spot compared to the other, it really helps. I would love to have the same result as last year, or better really.”
Flash forward to Mat Classic XXXVII at the Tacoma Dome on Friday, and the athletes did him one better. Well, make that two better.
With 166 points, Lake Stevens captured the Girls 4A State Championship by just 5.5 points over Union (160.5). Led by junior Kylee Wicklund and senior Jillian Hradec, who won the Girls 4A 145 and 155 individual titles, respectively, the Vikings won their first-ever team championship.
In one of the final practices before heading down to Tacoma on Wednesday, DuPree checked in with every one of his wrestlers set to compete, gathering everyone in a circle. He wanted to assess how everyone was feeling, gauging for nervousness, fear, excitement. By the end of it, he made sure everyone’s mindset was leaving everything on the line no matter how far each person went in her respective bracket.
That’s exactly what he got.
“We got to see in every match that nobody quit on us,” DuPree said on Friday. “It was 100% the whole time. That’s why we finished the way we did.”
With the scores so tight, Wicklund’s victory in the 145 with a pin over Glacier Peak’s Marissa Denke is what put the Vikings ahead, and Hradec’s 10-2 major decision against Amaya Abdullah from Rodgers (Puyallup) in the 155 sealed the deal, according to DuPree.
Lake Stevens’ Jillian Hradec hugs her coach after winning the 4A girls 155-pound championship match at the Mat Classic on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026 in Tacoma, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
It was only fitting that Hradec was the finishing touch. She was the last person to join the program, transferring from Sumner during winter break and only competing with the Vikings for the final four weeks of the season after being held out for a month due to the transfer. Lake Stevens marked Hradec’s third school in the past year, as she spent her first three years of high school at Snohomish, where she placed second in the Girls 3A 155 at last year’s Mat Classic.
While Hradec did not elaborate on the factors that went into moving to Sumner, she later ended up at Lake Stevens because she wanted to come back home.
“It’s been a crazy season,” Hradec said. “I’ve switched three schools, and just getting a different feel for all those different cultures, getting a feel for how every school wrestles has impacted me in every way in the best way possible. Negative and positive, I’m thankful for it all.”
Amid all the changes that made her life hectic this season, the one thing that remained consistent was the work Hradec put in. The loss in last year’s 3A 155 final added an extra layer of motivation heading into her senior season. She practiced three times a day, which included running, lifting and working with both the boys and girls teams. She would even practice against DuPree himself to give herself a bigger challenge, desperate to remain sharp while she was unable to compete for her first month at Lake Stevens.
In the end, it was all worth it.
In each of the past three years, Hradec’s final match ended with a loss. Finally, she closes her high school with both an individual and team victory on the biggest stage.
“All I’ve thought about, all I’ve done is eat, breathe it. Everything is wrestling,” said Hradec, who will be competing at UNLV next year. “And to get this title after wanting it for so long, it’s just incredible to me.”
Lake Stevens’ Kylee Wicklund attempts to pin her opponent during the 4A girls 145-pound championship match at the Mat Classic on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026 in Tacoma, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Meanwhile, Wicklund entered this year’s Mat Classic as a returning champion. She won the Girls 4A 140 as a sophomore last year, and had to get past Wesco opponents in both the semifinals and championship to win the 145 title. After pinning Jackson’s Emily Ortiz — the defending 4A 145 champion — in just 1:40 during the semifinals, Wicklund took down Denke in 1:21.
That higher level of familiarity with her opponents can be both a blessing and a curse, according to Wicklund. While she knows her opponents’ tendencies better than the non-area competitors, they also know her well. That dynamic can lead to nervousness and overthinking, so Wicklund relied on her coaches to keep her grounded and focused on doing what she does best.
By the time she reached the finals, her mind was clear.
“I knew I had to hammer down and go for it,” Wicklund said. “And (Denke) came and she gave me a good fight. She knows how I wrestle. We’ve wrestled many times before. She came out, gave me a great fight. I got stabbed in my right eye with her thumb. She felt so bad, but that kind of set me off and I was like, ‘Okay, I got to win this.’ I took my shot and I took it down, and I went and pinned her.”
While Wicklund and Hradec headlined the efforts, Lake Stevens had crucial scoring from Halle Boyland (seventh in 115), Madison Vincent (eighth in 115), Lily Ganal (sixth in 135), Afebia Aemere (sixth in 170) and all the other girls that picked up points on Day 1 despite not reaching the podium.
Beyond the athletes themselves, DuPree gave extensive credit to his coaching staff of Shaman Wicklund — who is Kylee’s father — Dawn Haitt and Barrick Benson, each supporting the 26-year-old coach in various ways. Together, they built a state champion.
And they’re just getting started.
“Out of our whole lineup of placers, (Hradec is) the only senior who’s walking away,” DuPree said. “We’re really fortunate because we have a good feeder program. … So we’re not even skipping a beat. We already have someone to fill (Hradec’s spot), and we’re not even worried about it.”
Just as they did in their practice on Wednesday, the Lake Stevens girls wrestling team gathered in a circle on the mat at the Tacoma Dome on Friday. However, there was no longer a shred of nervous energy. The job was finished.
As team scores were announced and the public address announcer got to the first-place team for 4A Girls, the Vikings did a collective drum roll with their hands on the mat surface. Louder than any other top four team on Friday, the girls erupted in a loud cheer when ‘Lake Stevens’ was called, rising up and sprinting to the podium to claim their massive trophy.
“It’s really impressive, and our team has worked really hard,” Kylee Wicklund said. “I’m super happy, super stoked, and I want to see if we can do it again next year.”
— — — — — —
Area Girls 4A State Medalists:
Championship matches
145— Kylee Wicklund (Lake Stevens) pinned Marissa Denke (Glacier Peak) 1:21; 155— Jillian Hradec (L) maj. dec. Amaya Abdullah (Rodgers) 10-2.
3rd place: Araxi Crew, Arlington, 125; Emily Ortiz, Jackson, 145.
4th place: Jannethzy Cortes-Hernandez, Mariner, 140.
5th place: Cameron Erdmann, Glacier Peak, 110; Isabela Alvarez, Mariner, 115.
6th place: Lily Ganal, Lake Stevens, 135; Afebia Aemere, Lake Stevens, 170.
7th place: Halle Boyland, Lake Stevens, 115; Payten Matsen, Arlington, 135; Isabelle Mendoza, Glacier Peak, 235.
8th place: Madison Vincent, Lake Stevens, 115.
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