2023-24 Winter High School Sports Preview: Mead wrestling again relying on depth in search for state threepeat

In the Mead wrestling room, each practice ends with longtime coach Phil McLean having his athletes to find two teammates and tell them something good they did that day.

It’s an exercise that takes a bit of time with more than 120 wrestlers in the room.

McLean knows wrestling is a numbers game, especially when it comes to winning a 3A state title – which the Panthers have done each of the past two seasons.

“It’s a contagious badge of honor to have this many kids in the room,” McLean said. “Everyone in that room is working harder than ever and there’s more of them, with quite a few kids being completely new to the sport.”

As the Panthers showed last season on their way to the title over rivals Mt. Spokane, University and Hermiston, depth is only part of the equation. The best teams also have wrestlers that find their way to the top of the podium.

For Mead, that was Josh Neiwert.

Neiwert claimed the 132-pound title at Mat Classic XXXIV in February with a 3-1 decision over Stanwood’s Tyler Rhue.

As the only finalist for Mead last season, Neiwert has taken the torch both on the mat as a returning champ, but also off it as a senior leader.

“I really learned last year just how long of a tradition of excellence Mead has and being a leader on this team isn’t a role, it’s an honor,” Neiwert said. “Being one of only a few seniors on this team and having everyone look up to me and hopefully being able to lead them to a third title would mean everything.”

That goal has driven Neiwert to work harder than ever this offseason.

“I’ve been wrestling nonstop this summer. I’m down another weight class from last year and I just feel faster, leaner and stronger,” Neiwert said.

The team has followed Neiwert’s lead, according to McLean, and are “working harder than any team” he’s had through the first few weeks of practice. McLean gives Neiwert a lot of credit for that in just his second year as a Panther after starting his high school career at Gonzaga Prep.

“Even from last year to this year, (Josh) has learned how to be a better teammate and how to be a great leader,” McLean said. “He leads by example and he’s just bought into what we are doing here, and the other kids are following him and becoming more vocal as well.”

One of those other key pieces is junior heavyweight Markus Fetcho.

Fetcho, who made it to state before losing his first two matches last season, has forced himself into a leadership role after getting a taste of what state success looks like at a team level.

“Looking back at last year, I didn’t know how much stress there is at an event like state,” Fetcho said. “I really wanted to learn from that because now I want to get back there and perform for my team so that I can help win another title.

“We have another great team with tons of depth, with more than one guy at each weight that can get that far and hopefully that means a few more guys in the finals.”

McLean, who is entering his 24th season at the helm, pointed to the depth of the upper weights as a key to this team’s success.

“You don’t see that many big, physical and athletic guys in a handful of weights like we have, so that’s really a gold mine for us this year,” McLean said of wrestlers like Fetcho and fellow state competitors Austin Frederick, Keemani Benavides and Braeden Harvey.

In total, the Panthers return 10 wrestlers who competed at state last season – including seven who placed. Mead also adds the talents of senior Jeroen Smith, who did not wrestle last year due to transfer issues after taking second place at state in 2022 with Pullman.

“I tell these guys right now that they need to control what they control and if they do, then things will end the way we want them to end,” McLean said. “I think we are right in the mix, but there’s a lot of wrestling between now and state.”