1. Velarde entered high school as one of the top club wrestlers around and he didn’t disap-
point. He tied Neil Sell of Klahowya for the most wins in the area with 39 and lost just
twice — once at the Olympic Duals and once to Olympic’s Cody Yeik at the regional finals.
He earned revenge in the state finals, beating Yeik with a two-point takedown in overtime.
Caleb O’Halek, Olympic, Sophomore, 160 lbs.
The Kitsap Sun’s Great Eight
Yeik battled through a sprained ankle to win his second state title. He beat Liberty soph-
omore Hamilton Noel 13-7 to become the fourth two-time champion from Kitsap County
and second from Olympic, joining Ty Smith. Yeik finishes his career with a school-record
107 victories — six more than Smith — and six defeats.
Branden Yeik, Olympic, Senior, 145 lbs.
O’Halek was one of the surprise champions of Mat Classic. He entered the state tour-
nament with nine losses, but ran the table and beat Enumclaw’s Kario Wallin 3-0 in the
finals. He was also the only Great Eight wrestler to go perfect in the postseason, winning
sub-regional and regional titles.
Neil Sell, Klahowya, Senior, 152 lbs.
Sell finished in the top three at state his final three seasons. He was a runner-up as a
sophomore and took third as a junior. This season, he lost 12-10 to Marques Ford of River
Ridge in the finals. He finished the season with a 39-3 record (with 35 pins) and he’ll
graduate as Klahowya’s career leader in victories (124) and pins.
Nearly joined his brother Branden as a state champion, but fell 3-1 in overtime against
North Kitsap’s Jake Velarde in the title round. A regional champion, Yeik finished the sea-
son with a record of 35-5, with four losses coming against Velarde. Also beat Kentwood
star 103-pounder Ruben Navejas during the regular season.
Lauren Richardson, Bremerton, Junior, 103 lbs.Cody Yeik, Olympic, Sophomore, 112 lbs.
Hartmann showed what a year’s worth of hard work can do. After going winless at Mat
Classic in 2009, Hartmann became the first Wolves wrestler to make the championship
round since Matt Foxworthy in 2008. Hartmann lost to Auburn junior Dylan Rutledge 5-2,
but finished his campaign with a 35-3 record.
Conner Hartmann, South Kitsap, Junior, 171 lbs.
Richardson, a 2009 state champion, was the top-ranked 103-pounder the entire season
before falling to Winlock freshman Rachel Archer in the semifinals at Mat Classic. Rich-
ardson bounced back to win her next two matches to finish in third place. She ended the
season with 25 wins competing against boys and girls.
Adam Burchett, Klahowya, Freshman, 103 lbs.Burchett was one of the big reasons the Eagles managed to finish seventh as a team at
Mat Classic. He made the state semifinals before losing 8-4 to Deer Park’s Cole Harris.
The freshman came out on top in his last two matches to take third. He also set a school
record for first-year wrestlers by finishing with 32 wins to go along with five losses.
Youth Movement on the Mats
Jake Velarde, North Kitsap, Freshman, 112 lbs.
Story Jeff Graham n Photos Larry Steagall, Steve Zugschwerdt, Jim Bryant
N
orth Kitsap freshman Jake Velarde, Klahowya freshman Adam
Burchett and Olympic sophomores Caleb O’Halek and Cody Yeik
had zero high school wrestling experience prior to this season.
Now they’ll represent their respective teams as members of the
Kitsap Sun Great Eight wrestling team.
Velarde beat Cody in overtime to win a 112-pound state title, while O’Halek
claimed the top spot at 160 pounds, helping the Trojans place fourth among
Class 3A teams.
Burchett made the semifinal round and settled for third place for the Ea-
gles.
The other four members of the team are Olympic senior Branden Yeik, Kla-
howya senior Neil Sell, Bremerton junior Lauren Richardson and South Kit-
sap junior Conner Hartmann.
Yeik, Sell and Richardson were honored last year.
This year’s Great Eight squad had a combined record of 274-37. All eight
members finished third or higher at state.
Other worthy candidates considered for the team were Port Townsend’s
Brett Johnson, Port Angeles’ Adam Raemer, North Mason’s Zach Joaquin,
Pedro Joaquin and Robert Vandling, South Kitsap’s Cody Barich, Olympic’s
Matt Hoyt and Jesse Borcherding, and Kingston’s Travis Schriner.