Chandler Fluaitt ready for a stellar senior season

MOSES LAKE — Every team needs one.

That person who’s always upbeat, optimistic and team-first. Chandler Fluaitt — Moses Lake High School’s 6 foot, 5 inch standout defensive lineman and heavyweight wrestler — exemplifies those qualities and more.

“He’s a great kid,” head football coach Todd Griffith said. “He’s happy all the time.”

Fluaitt anchored the middle of Moses Lake’s defensive line, helping the team capture a Columbia Basin Big Nine (CBBN) league championship and a berth in the quarterfinals of the Class 4A state tournament.

In the winter, Fluaitt made the leap from a district tournament elimination as a sophomore to a sixth place finish at Mat Classic XXVIII as a junior.

Two sports that involve hitting the opposition, hard, might be seen as an odd choice for the affable kid with curly blonde hair. But in between the hash marks or in the middle of the mat, Fluaitt’s niceties take a backseat to the current objective: move bodies.

“Honestly, I don’t know because I’m always joking out there on the field and stuff,” he said. “I don’t really have a mean switch. It just comes natural to be violent I guess having an older brother and just growing up with all boys.”

Griffith akin Fluaitt’s success on the field to his work ethic.

“As far as him, he plays hard all the time,” said Griffith, who was the 2015 CBBN Coach of the Year. “He’s got that rare motor that once he gets going that he definitely plays until the whistle every time. It’s not like you have to be a jerk when you’re playing defensive line. I mean, it helps a little bit. But for the most part he just plays hard, knows what his job is and gets it done.”

Fluaitt’s motor and work ethic has been on display this summer, earning MVP honors for the defensive line at Eastern Washington University’s (EWU) football camp.

“Seems like when it’s time to turn it on he definitely can figure out how to get that,” Griffith said. “He had an excellent camp for us this year... Those guys up there, the Eastern coaches, really like him. As far as his size and how hard he plays and those type of things. He’s a good kid.”

Fluaitt has also spent much time at wrestling camps across the state and in the high school’s wrestling room. He even got a chance to pick the brain of Olympic gold medalist Rulon Gardner. Gardner visited Moses Lake in June to hold a mini-camp.

“He showed me a couple new moves that I could really learn how to do,” Fluaitt said. “He showed me how not to get broken down on the bottom and stuff. It was really cool. He was a big guy, though.”

Fluaitt took that knowledge and the work he’s put in down to the Pasco Redneck Camp in mid July, finishing undefeated over the three-day competition.

“Chandler’s just wrestled like a completely different wrestler,” head wrestling coach Jaime Garza said.

That newfound confidence has also been noticed by Griffith.

“We saw spurts of it last year,” he said. “We knew that he had the capabilities and he had a good season last year... Right now, I see him playing like a senior, which he’s got nothing to lose right now and he’s playing hard every down. Hopefully he’ll continue that throughout the season.

With the time and energy he’s put in this summer, Fluaitt will likely have the opportunity to play football at the next level and compete for a state medal in wrestling.

But it’s never been about the individual accolades.

“It’s all about the team this year, though,” Fluaitt said. “That’s what I’ve been focused on, is seeing how good that we can do... I’m excited to have the feeling of being out there and playing again just for our town.”