Chloe Gardner could be the best athlete at Coupeville High School right now, but real life had to go and mess all that up. (Wade Gardner photo)
The Gardners (l to r), Bailey, Trina, Chloe, Wade and Taylor.
Fools! We had a state champion in Coupeville and let her move away.
Now, of course, one could argue that Chloe Gardner, who won a 1A state wrestling title for Nooksack Valley in the 145 pound classification at Mat Classic XXVI in Tacoma Saturday, never would have done that if she and her family had stayed in Cow Town.
Cause it’s kind of hard to win when your town doesn’t have a wrestling team…
But, thanks to the whims of fate, when a new job for dad Wade took the Gardners off-Island in 2004 (mom Trina was the #1 barista at Miriam’s Espresso at the time and put up with me on a daily basis), a whole new world opened for Chloe.
Not immediately, of course, as she was only in the third grade when she left Coupeville Elementary School.
But flash-forward to now, when the senior pinned Enumclaw’s Danielle Cormier in the championship match, and Chloe capped a remarkably successful run as a high school grappler.
Also a standout softball player and runner for Nooksack, she won all four of her matches at the two-day state tourney by pin. Her title followed a third-place finish as a junior and fourth-place as a sophomore.
Chloe’s younger brother, Taylor, who was in second grade when the family left Coupeville, is now a junior and was also at Mat Classic.
He was disqualified after being accused of biting his opponent in the second round, but was reinstated after a video review showed the other kid to be a little liar.
The family drama almost hurt Chloe as she came out slowly in her first match after her brother’s initial DQ and was almost pinned. Then, she got mad, rallied and whomped on the girl with the same intensity she has brought to all her sports.
An eight-time state qualifier in her various sports, Gardner will suit up for the Nooksack softball squad one final time before heading off to Skagit Valley College to seek a degree in Criminal Justice.
Meanwhile, Wolf fans will be left to wonder what could have been if Chloe, Taylor and 12-year old volleyball ace Bailey (who lived on Swedish Fish as a two-year old running the counter with me at Videoville) hadn’t been taken from Coupeville.
Well played, Nooksack Valley. Well played.
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