Bruin wrestler is first to make it to state final

“Overall, it turned out to be a very good tournament, especially for Sawyer, who is the first wrestler to make the finals in school history,” said Coach Muehlbauer. “Obviously, Liam was excited to be there, too, because it was the first time he qualified for state — and that was his goal.”

Sawyer Muehlbauer (30-5 this season) earned the second-place silver medal in the 190-pound weight classification in the 2024 Mat Classic XXXV. Muehlbauer, who lost by fall to Aiden Ford (43-1) of Zillah, became the first grappler in Columbia High history to make the finals at state.

“It was really exciting being at the state tournament and it was really fun to win some matches and get to the finals,” he said. “So far, it was definitely the highlight of my Columbia High School athletic career.”

Muehlbauer lost to Ford by a pin at the 3:47 mark of the second round in the finals. It marked the second time this season that the two competed in a match. Ford also won by a second-round pin in a Dec. 29 tournament.

Following a first-round bye, Muehlbauer won a quarterfinal match by fall over Jorge Mendoza (32-9) of Wapato. Muehlbauer followed with a semifinal win by a 10-2 decision over Wyatt Bacon (33-5) of Nooksack Valley to reach the championship match.

Muehlbauer took fifth place last year in the 170-pound weight class at state and also qualified as a freshman.

Cox (20-13), who lost both of his matches in the 165-pound division, capped his Bruin wrestling career by advancing to the tournament for the first time ever. The Bruins had four wrestlers advance to the tournament, including juniors Holden Uffelman and Matthias Posini. They qualified as alternates but didn’t compete in any matches.

Cox, Landon Castilla, Levi Wamsley, twins Braylon and Levi Childers and girls team member Jessica Polkinghorn were senior wrestlers for CHS.

“I’m definitely going to miss our seniors, because it seems like every year those guys are always kind of a key to our whole program,” said Coach Muehlbauer. “There’s a couple of solid seniors that we’ll really miss, like Jessica and Liam, who have been on the team since they were sophomores.”

The seniors were unable to compete in their freshman year in 2020 when the season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.