Congratulations to the Wrestling Bears of Tahoma for another dominate win this past weekend. The Bears have won the regional tournament for three consecutive years but set a new school record by advancing 15 wrestlers and one alternate to the state tournament at the Tacoma Dome this upcoming weekend. The boys from MV outscored second place South Kitsap by over 150 points on their way to the title. Joey Palmer was crowned 4A region 3 wrestler of the year and Coach Kitchen was selected assistant coach of the year. Below are individual results and a write up from the Times. Go Bears!
The Students below will need to be released at 2:30 on Thursday to travel to Tacoma and they will be gone all day Friday for the State tournament.
106 Todd Link 4 th
113 Sam Schuessler 4th
113 Tim Whitehead 1st
120 Blake Hoyal 5th
120 Cruz Velasquez 1st
126 Jesse Vaughn 2nd
126 Steve Hopkins 1st
132 Gabe Boynay 1st
132 Joey Palmer 2nd
145 Tanner Mjelde 1st
152 Dan Haniger 4th
170 Garret Autry 2nd
182 Austin Perry 1st
195 Matt Hopkins 2nd
220 Aaron Davis 3rd
285 Ed Torres 2nd
Team managers:
Jessica Cowles
Alexis Bayer
Deanna Hokenson
Emma Autry

The Bears Wrestling team has continued to dominate competition while striving to get better each day and give best efforts. The team is coming off double victories this week as they head into the final stretch of the regular season and make preparations to peak during our post season run towards a league, regional and state championship. Last Wednesday the Bears kept their 4 year SPSL N dual meet winning streak strong ( 29-0 in last 4 yrs) by defeating Kentwood. Both the varsity and JV had an excellent showing. We got big wins on jv from Wade Whitton and John Sawin and on varsity Todd Link sparked a scoring rally that saw the Bears win seven matches in a row and secure the victory.

On Saturday the Bears were on the prowl again as they went to work against some of the toughest wrestling teams in the state at the 25th annual CK Matman at Central Kitsap HS. The Bears put tougher a great day of wrestling and won the tournament by over twenty points over local rivals and returning 3A state champs Enumclaw High School. The Bears had 13 placers with 7 in the finals. Todd Link, Tim Whitehead, Cruz Velasquez, Jesse Vaughan, Steve Hopkins, Garret Autry, and Matt Hopkins all were finalist with Steven Hopkins bringing home an individual title to lead a full team effort.

This week the Bears are back in action with a double dual vs Mt. Rainier and Auburn Riverside on Wednesday at ARHS and the 11th annual 16 team THS Mat Classic at THS this Saturday. Next week the regular season comes to a close as the Bears head to AHS on Wednesday the 25th for the SPSL N district dual meet championship and then a challenge match at THS against longtime rival Enumclaw HS on Friday night.

Friday the 27th will not only be Sr. Night but the BATTLE OF THE BONE. Both EHS and THS meet regularly to see which South King County team is the true Dual Meet Champion of King County as the two teams fight for the honor of taking home a 4 foot cow bone trophy that the winning team takes home to paint with team colors. Battle of the Bone is going to be a BLACK OUT NIGHT for the THS faithful and we ask that you come dressed in black and ready to get loud as you cheer on the Bears to a final home victory in our gym for the 2011-2012 season. The JV starts at 6 and Varsity will be at 7:30.
Go Bears!
Coach Feist

Tahoma 48, Kentwood 12
106 — W. Meyers, K, pinned C. Jackson, 0:58. 113 — T. Link, T, dec. C. Berlin, 5-2. 120 — T. Whitehead, T, pinned S. Willis, 5:30. 126 — J. Vaughan, T, maj. dec. A. Rodriguez, 17-7. 132 — G. Boynay, T, dec. D. Meyers, 6-2. 138 — S. Hopkins, T, dec. J. Jackson, 12-7. 145 — J. Palmer, T, maj. dec. L. Bearss, 13-3. 152 — T. Mjelde, T, pinned B. Bangsund, 0:35. 160 — J. Ohashi, K, dec. C. McElroy, 5-3. 170 — G. Autrey, T, pinned J. Boekelman, 3:57. 182 — A. Perry, T, dec. Q. Trinh, 6-2. 195 — M. Hopkins, T, pinned K. Capperauld, 3:49. 220 — A. Davis, T, maj. dec. V. Thach, 14-5. 285 — M. Herrick, K, dec. E. Torres, 4-0.

Happy Holidays wrestling fans! The start of the season for the #2 ranked THS Bears has been both exciting and successful. The Bear’s 4 year undefeated home dual streak is alive and well and the boys intend to keep the streak alive this year. Besides opening up the season 3-0 in dual meets and beating the returning state champions from Lake Stevens in the opener, the Bears have been wrestling well in tournaments also. Two weeks ago the varsity dominated the Spud Walley tournament in Sedro Wolley by beating rival Enumclaw by over 75 points for the title. We crowned three champs with Steve Hopkins, Joey Palmer, and Matt Hopkins all earning belt buckle awards in true Sedro fashion. The JV did excellent as well that weekend by placing in the top 4 of a varsity tournament at Puyallup and putting 5 bears in the finals with Todd Link 1st, Cruz Velasquez 1st, Blake Hoyal 2nd, Justin Weiding 2nd, and Brandon Schieber 2nd.

Last week the Bears had a bye on their dual meet schedule but both the JV and the Varsity had excellent competition over the weekend. The JV attended a 32 team varsity tournament in the Kitsap Peninsula known as the Hammer Head and placed 6th with Tim Whitehead placing 2nd, Sam Schuessler 3rd, Cruz Velasques 3rd, Justin Weiding 4th, and Aaron Vaughn 6th. The Varsity trekked over the mountains to the 49th annual Tri State tournament in Idaho to battle against 64 of the toughest teams in the Northwest. The Bears had an excellent tournament and placed 5th with 4 placers. Steve Hopkins took fist beating a Fargo National Finalist in a hard fought 3-2 win while Matt Hopkins and Joey Palmer came up a bit short to tough opponents in the finals and took home 2nd place hardware. Sophomore Todd Link continues to have a breakout season for the Bears as he placed 8th and brought home hardware in his first Tri State appearance. 13 out of the 14 wrestlers won matches at this tournament and 11 of the 14 made it to the second day of competition!

The Bears are working hard to get ready for our next big tournament. The JV will be at the ALL SPSL JV Classic on Dec. 28th at Thomas Jefferson High School and the Varsity will be at the ALL SPSL Rumble 12-29&30 at Auburn High School.

Have a great holiday! Coach Feist

Join us for Tahoma's Alumni Night and Hall of Fame Induction. This year's inductee's are Three-Time State Champions Ricky Christian and Zhon Kurspedani and three time finalist Tim Kurspedani.

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Bears don't shake hands... bears hug.