FWHS wrestlers fall to White River, but show signs of success

Eagles drop to 0-3 in dual meets, but are moving toward improvement.

By Benjamin Ray • January 9, 2025 10:15 am

Four years ago when Mike Thompson walked into the gym to take over the Federal Way High School boys wrestling program, he had just eight wrestlers.

Turn the clock forward to Jan. 8, and he now has 55 wrestlers donning the blue and white singlet.

“We are really truly coming from nothing… We are making these incremental steps and these steps are becoming bigger and bigger steps. I am excited to see where this takes us,” Thompson said after the match.

Federal Way took on what Thompson called the best team in the state in White River in a dual on Jan. 8 inside the Federal Way High School gymnasium.

The Eagles had wrestled just two duals all season, both of them losses against Kentlake (39-30) and Kent-Meridian (54-14).

Against the Hornets, who on the contrary had wrestled four matches and had not given up more than 15 points in a dual, the Eagles set a new high for an opponent taking on White River — but couldn’t topple the league giants, falling 56-23.

“We always talk about how victories can look differently in different scenarios. I am just so proud of the way my kids came out and kept their heads high. Even when we lost, we kept our heads high. We wrestled really-really tough. We scrapped with some dudes on paper we shouldn’t be able to scrap with,” Thompson said.

Federal Way won four matches — Cohen Vongsady at 113, Alejandro Rodriguez-Mendoza (138), Marcus Banek (144) and Miguel Cansino (175). But two of those wins really impressed Thompson.

“For Alejandro to pull that out was just huge. He is one of our seniors and worked hard all offseason. He’s been responsible with his weight as well. He’s at the weight class where he is going to do really well,” Thompson said.

Cansino had some things come up off the mat and away from the gym, but bounced back with an impressive win over Jack Berdan.

“Miguel has come off some adversity the last couple weeks where he hasn’t been able to practice… But Miggy is a dawg. He was saying ‘Let me at ‘em’. He knew his opponent was a tough kid and he took that challenge head on,” Thompson said.

Three of the Federal Way wins were via pin fall — Vongsady, Rodriguez-Mendoza and Cansino. Banek won his match by technical fall, outscoring his opponent 17-1.

A handful of Eagle wrestlers were also sidelined against the Hornets. But the performances by the replacements gives Thompson hope for the future.

“We really preach the next man up mentality. We got that mindset where it is ‘iron sharpens iron’… I got a lot of dudes that just want to get out there,” Thompson said.

Federal Way also had a wrestler at 126 pounds, Mohammad Parwani, who was academically ineligible all season. This performance, despite the loss, marks progress for the Eagles.

“I was really happy to see his hard work pay off,” Thompson said.

The Eagles are back in action on Jan. 11 with a tournament at Mount Vernon High School along with 11 other teams up in Skagit County.