By Shaun Scott, Puyallup Tribal News
Puyallup Tribal Members Naiyeli Cruz-Garcia and Ty Satiacum Jr. represented the Puyallup Tribe with pride at the state wrestling tournament Feb. 21-22 at the Tacoma Dome.
Cruz-Garcia, a senior at Chief Leschi Schools, advanced the furthest of the eight wrestlers the school sent, nearly making it to a medal match.
Cruz-Garcia won three matches at the Mat Classic in the 170-pound weight class in the Girls 1B/2B/1A tournament.
Chief Leschi wrestling second-year coach Tim Perales was impressed with his team’s performance not only at the Mat Classic, but in the previous district tournament leading up to it.
“One of the things I preached all year is it matters the most when you get to the end of the season tournaments. That is when it really matters and our kids showed up,” Perales said. “We had many of our wrestlers in loser-goes-home and winner-goes-on matches and they won to make it to state.”
Perales believes the future is bright for the Chief Leschi wrestling program. In late January he expected two to four wrestlers to advance to the Mat Classic, but his team exceeded expectations, sending a total of eight wrestlers to the Tacoma Dome.
“We had kids on the team who didn’t make it to the Dome, but they still traveled with us to watch it. I could see them lighting up. I think this year could be the catalyst for the future and knowing what it takes in order to get to this awesome tournament,” Perales said.
Satiacum, who wrestles for the state powerhouse Orting Cardinals, earned second place in the Class 2A 126-pound weight division. The sophomore lost to Toppenish’s Isaiah Rios 7-2 in the championship match. Satiacum captured second place in the 106-pound weight division at the Class 2A state tournament as a ninth-grader in 2024.
“I didn’t get what I really wanted and didn’t get what my goal was,” Satiacum said. “Last year, I got put to my back (in the state finals) and it happened again this year. Next year, I’m going to get it done, and the year after that, for my senior year, I want to get it done again, too.”
The highlight of the tourney for Satiacum was his third-round pin against Prosser’s Julian Torres in the semifinals.
“My whole mindset was to go in pumped up, hyped up and believing I could win this,” Satiacum said. “I kept getting takedowns on him and it just kept boosting my confidence through the whole match. When I finally got that pin for our team, it made me really excited. We were trying to beat Toppenish for the team title.”
The Orting Cardinals won the Class 2A state team title compiling 434 team points. Toppenish finished in second place with 317 points.
“It feels like we are a family. We all push each other really hard but we also have fun at the same time. Every time we are warming up for a match or a tournament, we have a lot of confidence,” Satiacum said.
