March 1, 2023
ISSUE 9
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Podium parade: Cruiser wrestlers finish year at state By Skip Smith
Contributing writer
The Eatonville Cruiser wrestlers who competed at Mat Classic XXXIV State Championships Feb. 18-19 at the Tacoma Dome all landed on the podium and finished within the top 10 in their weight classes. Sophomore Ashlynn Kistenmacher battled her way through and took home a fourth-place finish in the 120-pound weight class. Kistenmacher received a bye in the opening round due to her winning the regional championship the week before. In the quarterfinals, she wrestled Jayde Coleman from Naches Valley and lost by an 8-6 decision, which dropped her into the consolation rounds. In her first match in the consolation bracket, she defeated Life Christian's Tebisi Wright in an ultimate tiebreaker, 6-5. She then received a victory via a medical forfeit in her next match when Mary Walker's Serenna Swiger could not compete after dislocating her elbow in her previous match. In the consolation semifinals, Kistenmacher
Photo by Gayle Pero Eatonville wrestlers Kasey Whitney, Carsen Pero and Ashlynn Kistenmacher pose for a photo following their successful day at the state wrestling tournament in Tacoma. faced Afton Wood from Okanogan High School. She defeated Wood by decision, 8-6, putting her in the thirdplace match. In her last match, she again went up against
Coleman, who defeated her for the second time, in a 12-6 finish. Senior Carsen Pero wrestled in the 285-pound weight class and came away with a fourth-place finish.
In the opening round, Wapato’s Angel Leyva pinned Pero, dropping him into the consolation bracket. In round 1 of the consolation bracket, Pero received a bye directly to
the next round. He took on Gavin Chaffee of Medical Lake and pinned him to advance. In his next match, Pero WRESTLING Page 2Æ
Historical society receives Heritage League Diversity and Access Award Courtesy South Pierce County Historical Society
The Heritage League of Pierce County recently presented its Diversity and Access Award to the South Pierce County Historical Society for its work in restoring the Tofu House. The ceremony was Feb. 4 at the Lewis Army Museum in DuPont. As stated on the award certificate: “This is the only remaining structure from the days when young Eatonville
was a booming mill town, with the help of Japanese Americans who worked the mill. This building will help the Eatonville of today, and its visitors, to remember and appreciate the time when our Japanese American citizens helped this town to become a prosperous little community.” While there are other historic buildings in Eatonville's downtown that pre-date the establishment of the Eatonville Lumber Company’s massive sawmill and planning mill
complex, this building, from the mill farm, is perhaps the only remaining building from that operation. The farm’s milk house was moved across town in 1950, after the farm operation was curtailed. Learning about its location in 2005, the historical society began planning funding efforts for the eventual acquisition and move of the historic little building back across town, to the organization's leased property at Mill Pond Park, and placement on a
new foundation next to the Thomas Cobb Van Eaton Cabin, Eatonville’s first home, which was also moved to this site, in 1995. It had served for many decades as the dining room for the Snow Hotel, which had been built around it. During the Eatonville Centennial Celebration in 2009, parade watchers cheered, and some cried, as a former resident of the Eatonville Japanese American community, William SOCIETY Page 4Æ