‘It’s the best feeling ever’

TACOMA — A year after taking third place in the 195-pound weight class in the Mat Classic, Lind-Ritzville/Sprague senior Gabe Smith came into his senior season on a mission; to finish on top of the podium in Tacoma.

His mission was a success, having been crowned the 215-pound champion of the 1B/2B Boys classification at last week’s state wrestling tournament.

“I went up a weight class so it was different people all around, but knowing I could compete with those guys last year — that was a big confidence booster, considering that I consider them the best wrestlers out of 1B/2B,” Smith said. “I knew if I could compete with them, I could compete with anybody.”

Smith, who wrestled in the 215-pound class this season and earned a first-round bye, went 3-0 at the Tacoma Dome last week, defeating Coupeville’s Jaje Drake with a first-round pin in the quarterfinals, Liberty Bell’s Damien Spears in the semifinals and Almira/Coulee-Hartline’s Noah Butler in the championship round.

“I felt like there were more people here than last year, so it was a little bit more nerve-racking,” Smith said. “But, it was exciting. I went into every match believing in myself 100%. I never doubted myself, that was going to take anything other than first.”

His semifinal matchup against Spears was a rematch from a Jan. 7 bout at the Banks Lake Brawl at ACH, where Spears defeated Smith in a 3-0 decision in the tournament’s 215-pound finals.

“You lose one, and you learn from it,” Smith said. “I lost my match a month-and-a-half ago to (Spears), and I came back and I beat him 5-2. That was just learning from experience and the difference in (weight).”

In the days leading to the Mat Classic, LRS Head Coach Jason Hilzer said the senior spent the bulk of his time preparing for the potential rematch.

“He spent days; hours and hours watching film, and we came up with a plan,” Hilzer said. “Some stuff that we thought would work against (Spears), and it got to the point where it was close. We knew once we got to 2-2 at the end of the second period and it was our choice, we were pretty confident with the way he had been wrestling that he could get away.”

With the win over Spears, Smith advanced to the 215-pound finals where he defeated Butler in a 17-5 major decision. Smith led 9-1 after the first round, eventually holding on to the lead to capture a state championship.

Sounds of cheers and high-fives erupted from the side of Mat No. 8 at the Tacoma Dome, as well as the Bronco fans in the stands, after the final whistle. 

“It’s my coaches, without them I wouldn’t have done any of this,” Smith said. “I owe everything to them.”

After entering the LRS wrestling program as an eighth grader, Smith — along with every wrestler across the state — wasn’t able to compete in the Mat Classic his freshman year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a sophomore, Smith wasn’t able to compete in districts due to a positive COVID test. His first trip to the Mat Classic was in his junior year, where he took third in the 1B/2B Boys 190-pound class.

“He’s only had the two years where he’s been able to compete (at state), and he’s just got a fire inside him that makes him want to be better,” Hilzer said. 

As an underclassmen, Hilzer said Smith took after former LRS wrestler Douglas Morris, a 2021 graduate who took fourth in the 1B/2B 195-pound class at the 2020 Mat Classic. Morris now wrestles for Alma College in Alma, Michigan.

“His big goal was to beat him,” Hilzer said. “Last year he beat him with the third place, and then the whole goal was ‘I’m going to win this whole thing.’”

There was a bit of a learning curve in adapting to a new weight class this season, Smith said.

“Well, I ate more obviously,” he said with a laugh. “I just had to learn how these heavier guys move and how to move around them. They’re not like the lighter guys, they move a little bit slower sometimes. They don’t wrestle as aggressive, they don’t like to take shots. You just have to figure out how they wrestle.”

Smith was the first LRS wrestler to reach the state finals since Johnny Ryan in 2020, and the first champion since Herson Rodriguez won the 140-pound class at the 2010 Mat Classic.

“A lot of these kids looked up to him, and now that we’re getting more kids involved, I think that’s one thing that everybody’s striving for right now,” Hilzer said. “We’ve had some state champs, but there’s been big gaps between state champs. I think with Gabe coming all the way through and everybody seeing how he wrestles, how he puts in the effort, that I think we’re going to end up with more state champs a lot sooner.”

Capping off a senior campaign with a state championship isn’t a bad way to go out.

“It’s the best feeling ever,” Smith said. “This is what I’ve been saying I was going to do for the last four years now. It feels good to finally put my money where my mouth is.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com. 

    Lind-Ritzville/Sprague senior Gabe Smith, bending, earns his first-place medals on the podium at the Tacoma Dome.
  

    Lind-Ritzville/Sprague senior Gabe Smith, top right, earns three points for a near fall in the 1B/2B 215-pound finals.
  

    Lind-Ritzville/Sprague senior Game Smith, right, wrestles against Liberty Bell’s Damien Spears, left, in the semifinals of the 1B/2B 215-pound class. Smith avenged a loss to Spears from earlier in the season with a 5-2 decision to advance to the state finals.