From left, Assistant Coach Colton Skelton, Coach Kyle Erickson, Damien Spears, Yolo Paz, and junior high Coach Paul Schmekel display their state meet plaques, made by Erickson.
While the Liberty Bell High School wrestling family honored the accomplishments of this year’s athletes in the junior and senior high programs, varsity Coach Kyle Erickson made the end-of-season banquet more about the future of the program.
With a freshman, three sophomores and an eighth-grader on this year’s squad, it’s a pretty easy connection to make.
All five varsity grapplers earned either a letter award or pin to go on a previous letter, and they all were awarded All-District awards. Four of the five advanced to the state Mat Classic, with two standing on the awards podium at the tournament’s closing ceremonies.
With 10 wrestlers in Coach Paul Schmekel’s junior high program, and some 60 youth registered for the junior program currently underway, the numbers are there to trend the Mountain Lion program toward the days of past prominence regionally and at the state level.
Liberty Bell has two state championships in the trophy case, and numerous individual titles as well, dating back to 1974, the year of school district consolidation and opening of Liberty Bell High School. Erickson and his staff want to return Liberty Bell to those glory days of not so long ago.
A first step in the reemergence plan is to honor every Mountain Lion wrestler who has participated at the state Mat Classic with a Washington state-shaped commemorative plaque featuring the wrestler’s name and year(s) of their appearance in the championship tournament. By Erickson’s count, that is 139 plaques to adorn the walls of the wrestling room, located upstairs in the Eagle Gym at the Methow Valley Elementary School.
Improved facilities urged
Erickson also made a plea for the school district to consider either renovating the existing wrestling room or building a new facility at the high school. The current facility is comfortable for a small program, but can be crowded and lacking for adequate ventilation, especially when filled with many users.
“I’m just trying to get the conversation started,” said Erickson.
The coach did his high school wrestling at Arlington High School, north of Everett. “We had the privilege of a large school. A big practice area, big locker rooms and all of that in the high school. Here, we have some challenges,” he said.
“I would love to have our wrestlers closer to the gym and weight room in the high school building,” he said in an earlier interview with the Methow Valley News.
In addition to the All-District accolades for the varsity grapplers, eighth-grader Yolo Paz received the team Most Valuable Player Award. It was apparent to Erickson that Paz would not benefit from wrestling at the junior high level. After conversations with school and WIAA District 6 staff, and others in the wrestling community, Paz was permitted, as allowed by WIAA rules for the B school classification, to participate at the high school level, and completed the year with an eye-popping 5th place at state this year.
Cassidy Jones-Mowen added to her varsity letter pin collection with her second wrestling letter and second state participant certificate, another first for the groundbreaking Mountain Lion sophomore.
Sophomores Andy Garcia-Lopez and Damien Spears were both awarded with varsity letters. Each overcame their own sets of personal challenges to complete the year. Garcia-Lopez narrowly missed a trip to state, while Spears earned a podium appearance at the Mat Classic, bringing home a 6th-place medal.
Freshman Lukus Vera-Mendoza qualified for state, but suffered a last-minute disqualification for being one pound overweight at the Saturday morning weigh-in. Vera-Mendoza had a tremendous regional meet that earned him a ticket to Tacoma.
Erickson proclaimed Mountain Lion wrestling a “lifestyle sport” where everything an athlete does in and outside of practice, whether it’s school, home community or in the ring, affects how they perform in a match.
“Diet. Rest. Grades. It all matters,” the coach reminded the throng of gathered parents, family and team members. “Getting your hand raised at the end of a match, at whatever level, is a great accomplishment. There is so much that goes into the preparation and effort to get to that point.
