The grapplers representing Bainbridge were the battling brother combo of Cade and Liam Topham (120- and 170-pounds, respectively), Jonathan Gallivan (120), returning state finalist Jack Miller (138), previous season alternate Aaron Jumpa (160) and Joaquin Gurza (160).

A BHS junior, Miller took seventh place in the 138-pound bracket again this year, marking his second consecutive top 10 finish at the State’s premiere high school wrestling event. He was the team’s only top 10 finisher last year.

The eldest of the Topham wrestlers, Liam, a senior, also secured a seventh-place finish for himself in the 170-pound bracket.

Jumpa, a junior, brought home an eighth-place finish in the 160-pound division.

The team performed extremely well, said BHS Head Coach Dan Pippinger. Though Bainbridge did not bring as many wrestlers as some schools, he added, the team clearly consisted of a high caliber of athletes overall, with everyone improving immensely throughout the year.

The three Spartan finishers each had a difficult path set before them as they worked their way up through their respective brackets.

Miller claimed an initial win with a decisive 14-4 victory over Peninsula’s Seth Wahto, then found himself on the short end of a 3-1 decision against Shorewood’s Erik Harris-Udall.

In the conciliation bracket, Miller came back with a 5-3 overtime win over Hazen’s Derek Nichols, before losing to eventual third-place finisher Jeremy Vester of Oak Harbor.

The standing Spartan heavyweight, Topham lost his first match (an OT fall to Shadle Park’s Stephan Babcock), before finding his stride.

Topham bested Lynnwood’s Reald Markokaj 5-1 and Zayid Al Ghani of Southridge 9-2, before being beaten by eventual third-place finisher Josiah Schliesman of Sumner.

Jumpa also got off to a rough start and found himself pinned in 1:59 by Central Kitsap’s Calvin Fisher.

Jumpa did, however, come back strong in the conciliation bracket to beat his next two opponents, including a final decision match which he won in overtime by one point.

Though he was nervous entering the tournament at first, Jumpa said, eventually he made up his mind to relax and do well.

“Going into the tournament I was kind of nervous, but I realized that I was just as good as anybody else out there and I could wrestle anybody there,” he said. “So I just decided to give it my all, and I was pretty happy with the result.”

Jumpa said he definitely intends to wrestle again next year, and he’s looking to improve a lot over the off season.

Next season, he added, he looks forward to being a senior wrestler and in a position to give back to the team.

“It’ll be cool being a leader on the team this [coming] year,” he said. “In past years I’ve always looked up to people, but this year I could be somebody that underclassmen could look up to. That’d be cool.”

One of the most well-known of the current team leaders, and the squad’s only senior state placer, Topham said he was proud of his accomplishment, but also found himself wishing for one more shot.

“I wish I had another year,” he admitted. “It was fun wrestling with these guys.”

Topham said he may pursue wresting at a collegiate level, and he intends to begin training in mixed martial arts, as well.

Wrestling, he said, had been a good fit for him both mentally and physically throughout his time on the Spartan squad.

“It’s kept me in good shape,” he laughed. “It’s taught me a lot of stuff.

“Coach [Pippinger] is really good. He teaches us how to compete well,” Topham added. “If we make a mistake he corrects us, and not just with wrestling.”

Jumpa agreed that the team’s increased success at state this year was the result of Pippinger’s strict, but supportive, coaching style.

“He’s all about working hard and working the right way,” he said. “He can turn anybody, I think, into a good athlete, a good wrestler. I came in, I didn’t know anything about the sport. A few years later I’m here; he turned me into a state placer. It was really awesome.”

“He’s a great guy, a great coach,” Jumpa added.

Both state finalists said that walking into a tournament the size of the state championship, in a venue as large as the Tacoma Dome, was initially intimidating, even though they’d both been there before.

The trick, Jumpa said, was perspective.

“You remember that there’s just 16 guys there competing in your tournament,” he said. “So it’s like any other tournament, just the level of competition is a little higher.”