STANWOOD – Brace yourselves for Stanwood Style.
No, it’s not the name of a new regional fashion magazine, but it’s certainly all the rage during the winter.
Stanwood Style is a mentality, a battle cry, a way of life. And its practitioners, members of the Stanwood High School wrestling team, are quick to explain the phenomenon in detail.
Michael V. Martina / The Herald
“It’s in-your-face, hard-nosed, old-school (University of) Iowa wrestling,” Stanwood senior Chris Mather said. “Who’s going to be the hungrier dog? Usually we’re the hungriest dogs out there, and we’re just going to keep coming and coming. Everyone better be prepared to wrestle that way.”
Added Spartans senior Jake Allen: “We’ll bring it to you.”
In other words, if you step in the ring with one of Stanwood coach Tom Wilfong’s grapplers, be prepared to face dial-busting intensity that can crush confidence and bulldoze bodies.
Michael V. Martina / The Herald
Stanwood High School wrestling program.
“We want them to attack. We want them to take the offensive,” Wilfong said of Stanwood Style.
Now in his 16th season at Stanwood, Wilfong had just six wrestlers when he took over the program. But he’s morphed the Spartans into a consistent bunch that in recent years has provided the area’s most celebrated squad, powerful Lake Stevens, with its stiffest competition. Last season, Stanwood placed 10th at the Class 4A state tournament, the second-best finish by a Western Conference team (Lake Stevens took second).
Stanwood’s success stems from Wilfong’s aggressive approach, which on the surface is about as complicated as a slap in the face but demands absolute attention. The emphasis on intensity saturates Spartans practices.
“Workouts are just really intense,” said senior Jared Smith, a 160-pounder who qualified for state last season. “I’ve had a couple practices where they were so intense we almost started throwing punches at each other. You’re on edge the whole time and you’re pushing each other. If it’s not the coach pushing you, it’s the guy right across from you.”
Spartans co-captains Smith, Mather (130 pounds) and Allen (189) know that the harder you practice, the better you perform when it counts.
“We do push each other harder,” said Allen, a two-time state placer at 171 pounds, “because we want to have a better gas tank out on the mat.”
This season Wilfong is relying on his well-tested trio of captains to pass on Stanwood Style to a swarm of inexperienced Spartans who represent Wilfong’s youngest squad in at least six years. With three freshmen in the lower weights, three sophomores in the middle weights and several other first-time varsity competitors, Stanwood has an uphill battle.
“It will be interesting to see how well (the younger Spartans) progress by the end of the season,” Smith said. “It will be rough for them at first.”
“My gosh!” Wilfong boomed after uncorking a hearty belly laugh. “I’ve never really said it out loud: We’re young across the board.”
It was a startling revelation for Wilfong, whose team is off to a 2-0 start in dual meets and is expected to finish near the top of the Western Conference North Division despite its inexperience. With a strong tradition of toughness firmly in place, Stanwood’s mission is more reload than rebuild.
“It’s just our turn now to pick it up and show these young guys how to get it done,” said Mather, a two-time state placer at 119 pounds who moved to Stanwood from Nebraska before his freshman year. ” … If we get after it and show these guys how to do it, maybe they’ll just follow in our footsteps.”
* The aggressive approach taught by head coach Tom Wilfong has turned Stanwood into a consistent winner.
Michael V. Martina / The Herald
Tom Wilfong is in his 16th season as the head coach of the Stanwood High School wrestling program.
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