Going up against stiff competition from bigger schools with rosters stacked with upper-class talent, Grays Harbor College women’s wrestling team came through with a seventh-place finish at nationals last month.

Finishing in the top 10 and having five All-Americans honored at the national tournament on Feb. 11 in Oklahoma City are big steps in the right direction for the fledgling program.

Despite being a little shorthanded, GHC still managed to impress. Nina Pham, Kateri Rowell, Desiree Zavala, Kacie Moorehouse all placed at nationals, with Paige Baynes taking first in the 191-pound weight class.

Baynes, who said she had improved on a number of technical aspects of her game, expressed that getting ready for her matches at nationals was more mental than it was physical.

“It’s about having a mindset and believing in yourself,” she said. “Once you tell yourself you don’t have it, you’re going to believe that.”

Choker head coach Andy Cook is still holding practices to get some of his grapplers ready for USA Wrestling tournaments that are held during collegiate wrestling’s offseason.

With no gym space to practice out of on campus, the group works out of a rented space in the Shoppes at Riverside mall in South Aberdeen. Cook said his program prides itself on its attitude, despite working with less-than-ideal circumstances.

“We don’t use any excuses. These girls don’t know about a lack of facilities. They think this is the Taj Mahal,” he said. “The mindset that we keep in the room is the reason we do as well as we do. We’re a really family-oriented group.”

Cook knew he had a talented group, but the season was not without its challenges. Assistant coach Axa Molina said they didn’t finish the year with all the top-end talent with which they started.

“We had some setbacks,” she said. “We lost a few girls who we thought were going to be at nationals. Some of them left, and then there were academics and stuff, but we’re a young program, so we’re still working as coaches to get our best athletes to nationals.”

Seventh place may seem like the height of accomplishment for a relatively small community college, but the Choker coaching staff thinks there is still room for the program to improve.

Unlike other athletic programs at the college, both wrestling programs have the ability to offer four years of eligibility to athletes. Because the team won’t have to reload as quickly as other community colleges, Cook is extremely optimistic about what his team can do next year.

“We were good this year, but next year’s line is going to be so good it’s not even funny,” Cook said. “It’ll be unfairly good.”