The only thing that tasted better than this sandwich to Tyler King? Winning state titles.
It has been 2,297 days since a Coupeville High School athlete last celebrated a state title.
As Oak Harbor wrestler Sam Zook basks in the moment of ruling over every other wrestler who took the mat in the 285-pound class this year in 3A, Cow Town’s dry spell looms a little larger.
To find Coupeville’s last time atop the ultimate podium, you have to go back to Nov. 6, 2010.
It was a Saturday and CHS senior Tyler King was busy crushing the field at the WIAA 1A state cross country championships.
His nearest rival, Todd Jackson of Elma, was an astounding 31 seconds off of his pace, and King could have strolled home backwards using a walker and still won.
It was a bittersweet moment, as King joined fellow harrier Natasha Bamberger, who won the girls title in 1985, as the only Wolves to win a state title outside of track.
I say bittersweet because Coupeville didn’t have an active cross country program during Tyler’s four-year career, so he trained and traveled with Oak Harbor, then a 4A school.
Competing at the highest level, he had steadily worked his way upwards at the state meet, from 98th as a freshman to 22nd as a sophomore and 5th as a junior.
Entering his senior season, King had his eyes on a 4A title, only to be denied when OHHS dropped to 3A.
With the downward movement, school officials also decided to end the agreement they had with Coupeville.
While King could still train and travel with Oak Harbor during the regular season, he would no longer wear Wildcat purple and gold, and, when the postseason hit, he was headed back to 1A as a lone Wolf.
He took the demotion in stride, won every race he entered his final prep season and exited as a state champ.
Then promptly went on to a stellar track and cross country career as a scholarship athlete at the University of Washington, one of the few Wolf alumni to truly excel in big-time college sports.
Meanwhile, Nov. 6, 2010 sits there, and the further away we get from it, the bigger the question becomes — who’s next?
Who will be the next Wolf athlete or team to truly seize a moment and stand astride the prep sports world?
Coupeville has come close, at least in track — Dalton Martin (discus) and Makana Stone (400) were both second-place finishers just this past spring — but never fully grabbed the ring since King.
The Wolves have 17 individual state titles, two in cross country and 15 in track, but are one of the few schools in the state to have never taken a team championship.
That 117-year drought looms large, especially since no CHS team has won a SINGLE game or match in a state tourney since girls basketball beat Zillah 45-41 Mar. 4, 2005.
Overall, Wolf teams are 19-49 at state all-time.
Girls basketball tops the chart with seven wins, while the 2002 softball team came the closest to a title, winning four of five games and finishing 3rd.
So, what’s the point of all of this?
There are two things at play here.
The first is honoring King’s state title, and keeping it fresh in people’s minds, by inducting the moment into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.
Tyler is already in the Hall for his career (which includes two state track titles to go with his cross country championship), but, after this, the events of Nov. 6, 2010 will also be enshrined under the Legends tab at the top of the blog.
And, secondly, it’s to challenge the current (and future) Wolf athletes.
Step up.
If you want to join the eight CHS students who have won a state title, you need to be willing to do what they did — put in the work, fully commit and believe in yourselves.
CHS is a small school, but smaller schools win state titles all the time.
It is not the size of the student body, but the size of those students hearts and the depth of their desire.
There is no reason to fear any other school out there, or step back when you enter a bigger gym or stadium.
You can rule the state.
There is absolutely no reason Coupeville can not bring home more state titles — as individuals, or, finally, as a team.
Put your phones down. You can pick them back up when it’s time to take a photo in front of a state title banner.
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