Auburn girls wrestling champion Katrynia Todd knows a thing or two about celebrating.
With the roar of the Mat Classic XXIV crowd at the Tacoma Dome still ringing in her head after she’d captured, Todd had one thing on her mind.
“I went to McDonald’s,” Todd said. “I had a McFlurry.”
Never has a frozen treat tasted so sweet to a well-deserving athlete.
Todd – who finished first in the 140-pound class last season – cut a swath through her competition at the meet, finishing her prep career with a pin at three minutes, nine seconds over Othello’s Allesha Reyes in the title match last Saturday.
According to her coach, Erik Opel, Todd got off to a rough start at the tournament before pinning down her second straight state title.
“She was concerned about her weight and hadn’t really eaten a lot,” Opel said. “Plus there were probably some first-day jitters. But once she got something to eat, we got back on track, wrestling.”
After defeating Columbia River’s Samantha Schoene with a 15-3 major decision in the first round, however, Todd’s training and confidence took over.
“I think I was more experienced at the whole state thing this year,” Todd said. “I was more used to all the people staring at you and all the pressure. I absolutely feel like I was a better wrestler this year. I feel like I went out there and took care of business.”
In the second round, Todd defeated Lacy Cannon of Mount Baker with a 6-1 decision, setting up a meeting with South Kitsap’s Amberlee Brasch on Saturday morning.
“My semifinals match was the hardest because it was 1-1 through three rounds before I got her down,” Todd said.
Once on the mat, Todd ground down Brasch, maneuvering her into a pin at the 5:52 mark.
The win set up a showdown against Reyes for the title, a match that Todd controlled from start to finish.
“The biggest difference from last year to this was she was a much more complete wrestler,” Opel said. “She really worked on developing a lot more skill. I think that was a big difference for us this year.”
Now that Todd is done with her prep wrestling career, she has mixed feelings.
“I had all this pressure on me, so it just felt good to be done,” she said. “But it’s kind of sad that I won’t wrestle in high school anymore, but hopefully I’ll wrestle in college.”
Todd already has received interest from wrestling programs at Southwestern Oregon Community College in Coos Bay, Ore., Menlo College in Atherton, Calif., and Midland University in Fremont, Neb.
Auburn wrestling head coach Dennis Herren appreciates what Todd has brought to the program, regardless of where she winds up.
“I honestly couldn’t be more inspired by Katrynia Todd,” he said. “Both of her last matches were tough, but she broke them and pinned them. All of Auburn wrestling needs to be grateful to her for bringing us a state championship for the program this year.”
