TACOMA – Religion Tarrant now stands alone.
However it’s not lonely on the prime for the primary wrestler, boy or lady, from Clark County to turn out to be a four-time state champion.
The Prairie senior completed that rarest of highschool wrestling feats Friday at Mat Traditional. She gained the Class 3A 235-pound title match by pin, needing simply 1 minute, 24 seconds to stay Oak Harbor’s Olivia Hudson.
Tarrant’s 114th profession pin got here in typical quick vogue. None of her 4 matches at Mat Traditional lasted multiple interval as she capped a 3rd consecutive unbeaten season.
After turning into simply the twenty fourth wrestler in state historical past to win a fourth title, Tarrant appeared across the Tacoma Dome.
However she didn’t see a hoard of vanquished rivals. She noticed an prolonged household.
By herself on the prime, however not alone.
“The Tacoma Dome feels like home,” Tarrant mentioned. “All the wrestlers, I turn and everywhere I have a friend and people that I call family, whether that’s people from Seattle or people who live 15 minutes from my house. Being a Washington wrestler, I have this small community we call family.”
Tarrant paused a post-victory interview to look throughout the sector, the place Skyview’s Madisyn Cardens turned the one different Clark County lady to win a state title Friday evening.
Cardens’ victory within the Class 4A 235-pound title match gave Tarrant one more reason to rejoice. Cardens is in uncommon firm, not solely now as a state champion however one in every of simply two wrestlers to take Tarrant into the third interval this season.
For Cardens, the admiration is mutual.
“I’m very proud of her,” she mentioned. “A four-time state champ, that’s beautiful.”
Cardens gained all 4 Mat Traditional matches by pin. She wanted 4:40 to ultimately vanquish Kennedy Catholic’s Kanora Diederichs, who was the opposite wrestler to push Tarrant into the ultimate interval this season.
For Cardens, Friday’s win was additionally about household.
“I lost my grandparents at the beginning of the season,” she mentioned, holding again tears. “They have really been my motivation to keep on going.”
For Cardens, Friday’s win was additionally about household.
“I lost my grandparents at the beginning of the season,” she mentioned, holding again tears. “They have really been my motivation to keep on going.”
That Tarrant and Cardens each gained state titles at 235 kilos is a testomony to the fast progress of women wrestling in Washington. This yr marks the primary time Mat Traditional had separate tournaments for each 4A and 3A ladies.
Simply three years in the past, ladies from all classifications 1B to 4A wrestled in the identical event.
That prolonged household Tarrant talked about? It has grown greater annually.
And although Tarrant ends her prep profession because the nation’s No. 7-ranked wrestler in her weight class, she’ll take away simply as a lot gratitude as delight.
“Hard work pays off,” Tarrant mentioned. “I never thought I would be here. It’s unimaginable. I’ve never felt anything like this in my life. I’m just happy.”