It turns out a loss is exactly what he needed to return to championship form
It was during his sophomore year, two years ago, the Ferndale’s Ben Broselle said he decided he wanted to be “good” at wrestling.
By finishing sixth at Mat Classic at 160 pounds, he pretty much accomplished the modest goal of being good – then he set his sights on becoming great.
By winning back-to-back Class 3A state titles, it’s pretty safe to say Broselle certainly accomplished that goal.
“It’s amazing,” Broselle said after winning the 190-pound title in February at Mat Classic in Tacoma, backing up the 182-pound crown he won as a junior. “I wouldn’t have been happy if I didn’t win today, but looking back, it’s amazing to have won twice. When I started, I had no clue I’d get this far.”
The road to two-straight titles certainly wasn’t an easy one for Broselle, who admitted he needed a regular-season loss to Squalicum’s Brian Pullman to light a fire underneath himself.
I wouldn’t have been happy if I didn’t win today, but looking back, it’s amazing to have won twice. When I started, I had no clue I’d get this far.
Ferndale wrestler Ben Broselle
after winning the Class 3A 195-pound state title“After the loss, I said to myself, ‘I have to get my stuff in gear or else the end of the season is not going to go well for me,’” Broselle said before Mat Classic.
Broselle went to work in the weight room, adding 10 pounds of mucle. His not only inspired himself to finish his high school wrestling career strong, as he stormed to sub-regional and regional tournament titles, but his determination helped motivate his teammates to send 13 wrestlers to the Tacoma Dome and a top-10 finish at state.
At state, Broselle breezed through the first three rounds, winning by sub-90-second pins in all three matches, before facing a war with Yelm’s Jeremy Smith in the championship match. Broselle ended up coming out on top 7-4 in a bout peppered with medical timeouts.
Not surprisingly, Broselle was selected first-team All-Northwest Conference in arguably the league’s top weight class this year over Pullman, who advanced to the state semifinals and placed third, and Class 2A state finalist Brody Weinheimer from Lynden.
All-Whatcom County Boys Wrestlers of the Year
2005-06: Sam Zylstra, Nooksack Valley
2006-07: Steven Ayers, Sehome
2007-08: McKray Jones, Bellingham
2008-09: Reid Chivers, Bellingham
2009-10: Tim Barron, Squalicum
2010-11: Alec Postlewait, Mount Baker
2011-12: Jeremy Korthuis, Lynden
2012-13: Caleb Johnson, Blaine
2013-14: Mikey Antczak, Blaine
2014-15: Caleb Frey, Blaine
2015-16: Ben Broselle, Ferndale
2016-17: Ben Broselle, Ferndale
All-Whatcom County Boys Wrestling first team
Wrestler | Class | School | Yr. |
Brayden Charette | 106 | Squalicum | Jr. |
Placed seventh in Class 3A at Mat Classic XXIX after going 3-2 at the state tournament ... Won his weight class at the 3A Region 1 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected first-team All-NWC at 106 pounds. | |||
Jase Cooper | 113 | Squalicum | Jr. |
Placed sixth in Class 3A at Mat Classic XXIX after going 3-3 at the state tournament ... Placed second in his weight class at the 3A Region 1 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected first-team All-NWC at 113 pounds. | |||
Broc Graves | 120 | Ferndale | Sr. |
Advanced to Mat Classic XXIX before losing both his matches and seeing his season come to a close ... Placed second in his weight class at the 3A Region 1 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected first-team All-NWC at 120 pounds ... Helped Ferndale place ninth at state. | |||
Josh Coballes | 126 | Ferndale | Jr. |
Advanced to Mat Classic XXIX and went 1-2 to see his season come to a close ... Placed second in his weight class at the 3A Region 1 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected second-team All-NWC at 126 pounds ... Helped Ferndale place ninth at state. | |||
Eli Croy | 132 | Ferndale | Jr. |
Placed third in Class 3A at Mat Classic XXIX after going 5-1 at the state tournament ... Won his weight class at the 3A Region 1 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected second-team All-NWC at 132 pounds ... Helped Ferndale place ninth at state. | |||
Colton Economy | 132 | Blaine | Sr. |
Placed third in Class 2A at Mat Classic XXIX after going 4-1 at the state tournament ... Won his weight class at the 2A Region 2 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected first-team All-NWC at 132 pounds ... Helped Blaine place eighth at state. | |||
Jake Cheney | 138 | Meridian | Jr. |
Advanced to Mat Classic XXIX and went 1-2 to see his season come to a close ... Placed second in his weight class at the 1A Region 2 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected second-team All-NWC at 138 pounds. | |||
Jaden Schwartz | 145 | Ferndale | So. |
Placed sixth in Class 3A at Mat Classic XXIX after going 2-3 at the state tournament ... Won his weight class at the 3A Region 1 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected first-team All-NWC at 145 pounds ... Helped Ferndale place ninth at state. | |||
Noah Saenz | 152 | Ferndale | Sr. |
Advanced to Mat Classic XXIX before losing both his matches and seeing his season come to a close ... Placed fourth in his weight class at the 3A Region 1 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected first-team All-NWC at 152 pounds. | |||
Joseph Jefferson | 160 | Bellingham | Sr. |
Advanced to Mat Classic XXIX and went 1-2 to see his season come to a close ... Placed fourth in his weight class at the 2A Region 2 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected first-team All-NWC at 160 pounds. | |||
Riley Fritsch | 170 | Blaine | Sr. |
Placed fifth in Class 2A at Mat Classic XXIX after going 3-2 at the state tournament ... Won his weight class at the 2A Region 2 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected first-team All-NWC at 170 pounds ... Helped Blaine place eighth at state. | |||
Pavel Kolbert | 170 | Ferndale | Sr. |
Placed eighth in Class 3A at Mat Classic XXIX after going 2-3 at the state tournament ... Placed second in his weight class at the 3A Region 1 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected second-team All-NWC at 170 pounds ... Helped Ferndale place ninth at state. | |||
Alex Cleary | 182 | Ferndale | Jr. |
Advanced to Mat Classic XXIX before losing both his matches and seeing his season come to a close ... Won his weight class at the 3A Region 1 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected first-team All-NWC at 182 pounds. | |||
Brian Pullman | 195 | Squalicum | Jr. |
Placed third in Class 3A at Mat Classic XXIX after going 4-1 at the state tournament ... Placed third in his weight class at the 3A Region 1 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected second-team All-NWC at 195 pounds. | |||
Brody Weinheimer | 195 | Lynden | Sr. |
Placed second in Class 2A at Mat Classic XXIX after going 3-1 at the state tournament, losing by just one point (3-2) in the 195-pound championship match ... Won his weight class at the 2A Region 2 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected second-team All-NWC at 195 pounds. | |||
Saul Magallon | 220 | Blaine | Jr. |
Won the Class 3A 220-pound state title, out pointing River Ridge’s Blayne Haderman 3-1 in the title bout ... Won his weight class at the 2A Region 2 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected first-team All-NWC at 220 pounds ... Helped Blaine place eighth at state. | |||
Braxton Shannon | 220 | Mount Baker | Sr. |
Placed eighth in Class 1A at Mat Classic XXIX after going 2-3 at the state tournament ... Placed third in his weight class at the 1A Region 2 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected honorable mention All-NWC at 220 pounds. | |||
Dominick Mack | 285 | Squalicum | So. |
Placed eighth in Class 3A at Mat Classic XXIX after going 2-3 at the state tournament ... Placed third in his weight class at the 3A Region 1 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected first-team All-NWC at 285 pounds. | |||
Tyson Mergel | 285 | Nooksack Valley | Sr. |
Placed eighth in Class 1A at Mat Classic XXIX after going 2-3 at the state tournament ... Placed third in his weight class at the 1A Region 2 Tournament to advance to state ... Selected first-team All-NWC at 285 pounds. | |||
This story was originally published April 21, 2017 at 5:00 AM with the headline "It turns out a loss is exactly what he needed to return to championship form."