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Royal caps emotional season with first title
Knights dedicate victory to late coach, Wapato boys repeat without champ
By JERREL SWENNING/Stat Hound
Feb 22, 2026
TACOMA – An emotional year for the Royal girls wrestling program again hit the big feels Saturday night.
Joy.
Ten months after losing coach Jesus Carlos Villa in a car accident, the Knights dedicated a Class 1A/2B/1B championship performance to the beloved coach.
A week since unseating Grager atop the district standings, Royal did the same Saturday night, outscoring the second-place Spartans by 90 points to win the program’s first state title.
“It means a lot to our team, to the girls, to the community,” Knights coach Seth Weeks said. “We did it for him.”
If any doubt remained heading into the championship matches, Royal’s wrestlers put those to rest.
At 110 pounds, Sophia Garza capped her freshman year with a first-period. Reese Prescott followed with a fall in 13 seconds, and four matches later, Hali Christensen scored a pin in the third period.
“We put a stamp on it,” Weeks said.
District 5 teams held down the top six spots in the team standings, with SCAC members Zillah and Wapato coming in at fourth and fifth.
Five SCAC wrestlers won their respective weight.
Connell’s Madison Magana started the night off winning at 105 and Kiona-Benton’s Aubrey Newberry capped it at 235.
The SCAC dominated, too, in the boys 1A tournament, with Wapato repeating as the Class 1A champion, Zillah second, Cashmere third and Royal sixth.
A year after winning the title with one individual champ, the Wolves’ strength-in-numbers approach worked again.
Wapato placed 10 wrestlers in nine weight classes. Still, Wapato coach Chris Garza wants a member of the Wolfpack atop the
“That’s obviously our goal, we need to get to that level,” Garza said. “We need to switch something up this summer.”
SCAC rival Zillah had three champions – Ryan Vader (144), Emanuel Fernandez (175) and Jake Turner (285).
Cashmere’s Mack Pell (126) and Jance Novak (168) also took titles.
The stiff conference competition, and that within its wrestling room is what carries the Wolves.
“Our room more than anything preps us,” Wapato coach Chris Garza said. “We have tough kid after tough kid wrestling each other, and grinding it out all day. So that’s what makes a difference for us.”