By Terry Mosher
Editor, Sports Paper
The Northwest Washington Wrestling Club has become one of the best clubs in the state and it shows by what its wrestlers have done recently, including in high school competition where North Kitsap’s Jake Velarde completed his high school with a fourth state championship.
But there are other NWWC younger club members who are also doing extremely well, including the two young sons – Thor and Lars – of the club’s director and head wrestling coach, Ty Michaelson.
This is Michaelson’s fourth year of running the NWWC and his two young sons have taken a strong hold on following in the footsteps of Velarde. From April 27-28 at the Tacoma Dome, Thor, 9, and Lars, 7, along with numerous other wrestlers in the club did extremely well in the Washington State Wrestling Association freestyle and Greco-Roman state championships.
Thor, a second-grader at Kitsap Lake Elementary, took state titles in both freestyle and Greco-Roman in the Intermediate Division at 65 pounds. Brother Lars, a first-grader at Kitsap Lake, won the 50-pound Bantam Division championship. It was Lars’ third state title, which qualified him for the honor of being a Legend of the WSWA (all wrestlers who win three state titles become Legends). Lars won his first two state titles in the Peewee Division (ages 4-6).
Thor is a veteran Legend. He first won a state freestyle title when he was four (38 pounds), won again at six (46 pounds), and has won the last two years (60 and 65 pounds), giving him four titles.
Velarde was competing in his third year as a Junior wrestler. He has won nine state freestyle championships, making him one rare individual. Bobby Reece III, a three-time state high school champion from Kingston, is also in rarified air – he has eight sate freestyle championships. Brian Burchett of Klahowya has won three state freestyle championships and is also a legend.
Bremerton’s Heaven Kemp won her second freestyle state title in 84-pound Cadet Women Division.
The age divisions are 4-6 (Peewee), Bantam (6-8), Intermediate (9-10), Novice (10-12), Schoolboy (12-14), Cadet (14-16) and Junior (16-19).
Ty Michaelson is following in the footsteps of his dad, Jeff Michaelson, who coached wrestling at Sehome High School (Bellingham) for about 30 years, and several times was name coach of the year in the state for the school’s classification.
Michaelson wrestled for his dad at Sehome and wrestled one year at Central Washington before suffering a career-ending knee injury.
“All my uncles wrestled and my dad wrestled and was a pretty good coach,” says Michaelson. “So I kind of grew up on the mat.”
Even with all of that, Michaelson said his wife didn’t know he was interested in getting Thor and Lars involved in wrestling. But it’s what he knows, and so he has become involved with running NWWC and helping kids in the sport.
“It’s worked out well,” says Michaelson of his involvement with his kids, including coaching his two boys in with the Warren Avenue Pee Wees. “They took one year off (from football) last year to try soccer. Because they wrestle so much – nine months – they only have three months for another sport.”
Wrestling, through, has come first. Both boys started wrestling at four. Thor’s first wrestling tournament came at The Kitsap Sun Pavilion at the Fairgrounds in 2008 when he was just a week into being four.
“Oh, he got killed,” says Michaelson. “At that stage, the Pee Wee Division, you are going up against kids who can be six.”
That age difference makes a huge difference physically, emotionally and mentally. The younger aged kids tend to run around the mat as a fun thing and the older kid is stalking, waiting to make his move.
The world is becoming so small in terms of information and how fast we receive it, and it’s no different in the wrestling world. Trackwrestling.com does just that – track wrestlers beginning at a young age with profiles.
Thor’s profile has Thor’s ranking and his results (he has 96 wins, 24 losses, 47 pins, 19 technical falls, and a major victory.
Lars has a better record (104-17 with 51 pins, 14 technical falls and seven major victories).
Next up for Thor and Lars and the rest of the qualified NWWC members is the USA Wrestling Western Regional Championships in Pocatello, Idaho from June 16-20. A week later (June 24-26) the nationals are being held at Salt Lake City.