Elma High School honored two of its boys wrestling program legends in a ceremony during a dual meet against W.F. West on Wednesday, Dec. 11 in Elma.
Former Eagles wrestling greats and father-son duo Rick and Jamie Rakevich – both 2024 Elma Athletics Hall of Fame inductees – were celebrated by students, family and friends as the Eagles fell to the Bearcats 49-19.
Rick Rakevich wrestled at Elma from 1970-74 and coached the Eagles for 26 years, 16 as a head coach where he had a dual-meet record of 115-35-1.
Rick led the Eagles to the 1995 1A State team championship and coached 11 state champions.
Jaimie Rakevich, the current W.F. West head coach, won two state championships as an Eagle wrestler (2001-02) and coached at Aberdeen High School before taking the head coaching job in Chehalis in 2012.
Their complete bios are as follows:
Rick Rakevich
Rick Rakevich wrestled at Elma High School, (1970-1974), Centralia Community College and the University of Puget Sound (1974-1978). He was a two-time NCAA Division II National Tournament qualifier at Puget Sound and was the team captain his senior year. After college graduation in 1978 he returned to Elma High School to begin his teaching and coaching career.
Rakevich coached at EHS for 26 years. He was an assistant to Hall of Fame Head Coach Rich Graham for 10 years. During his 16 years as head coach, Rakevich’s teams had a dual meet record of 115-35-1 and collected six state top-10 finishes. This included the 1A State team championship in 1995.
Rick coached 11 state champions along with 49 state placers. His teams won nine district titles and six regional championships. In 1994 he was selected as the 1A State Coach of the Year.
While coaching, Rakevich always emphasized the “student” in his program. Sixteen Eagles won Washington State Wrestling Coaches Association Academic State Championships. Five of his teams won the WIAA Academic State Championship for Wrestling.
In 1995, Elma became the first team in WIAA history to win the wrestling state team title as well as the academic state title in the same season.
Rakevich accompanied the Washington State Junior and Cadet teams to the National Tournament 10 times. He also ran one of the largest freestyle tournaments in the state – the Elma Freestyle Tournament – from 1979-2002. In 1981, he and his wife Shawnie took the Washington Cultural Exchange team to Germany.
For his dedication and commitment to the sport of wrestling, Rakevich was inducted into the Washington State Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2008 and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2021.
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Jamie Rakevich
Jamie Rakevich is a 2002 graduate of Elma High School who competed in football, wrestling, soccer and track. He was ASB president and a member of the Knowledge Bowl team with a 3.81 GPA and was a High School Academic All-American in 2002.
Jamie was a lineman on the 2001 State championship football team, was selected as an All-State lineman, and played in the East-West All State Football Game. He was also a member of the 2002 State runner-up soccer team.
Jamie placed second at state in 2000 and won wrestling state championships in 2001 and 2002. His high school career record was 107-8 with 80 pins. He was a 1999 Cadet All-American, a 2001 Junior Western Regionals Champion and a 2002 Senior National bronze medalist.
Rakevich wrestled at Oregon State University from 2002-2007. In 2004 he qualified for the NCAA Division I Tournament and placed fifth at the under-23 Freestyle World Championships in Lodz, Poland that same year. He was a PAC-10 All-Academic First Team member in 2006-2007.
Rakevich began his high school teaching and coaching career at Aberdeen High School in 2007 and has been at W.F. West High School since 2012. So far he has coached 2 state champions, 53 state placers and has had seven top-10 team finishes. He was selected as the 2A State Wrestling Coach of the Year in 2021.
– Bios courtesy of Elma High School
