The Bartelson Family - Bryan, Jennifer, Jordyn, Brooklyn, and Chance

 

The Bartelson House has the look and essence of where many successful American families live. It is clean,
spacious, modern and touched by the love of dogs and cats - with plenty of well-landscaped surrounding property on
which to play.

But the Bartelson Barn represents the epicenter of where dreams are made.
The restored 10,000-square foot wooden facility in Midland is big enough to host a wedding reception, but that would
be difficult given it is the ideal size in which to fit a few wrestling mats - to drill moves, simulate real-match strategy
and get sweaty.

In plain view, it fosters the Bartelson Foundation - hard work and no-quit determination equals gain.
For the first time since the Tacoma Athletic Commission created the “First Family of Sports Award” in 2006, a
wrestling-based family is being honored - the Bartelsons; father, Bryan; mother, Jennifer (Stewart); daughters, Jordyn
and Brooklyn; and son, Chance.

How accomplished are they? Very.
*Bryan Bartelson was a state-placing wrestler at Puyallup High School under national hall of famer George Wilfong -
but has made more of a name for himself as a coach. 

He was largely responsible for building the Orting dynasty from scratch, coaching the Cardinals to seven league titles
during his 12-year tenure (1990-2002). Orting placed fifth in the 1994 WIAA championships.
After that, he enjoyed two successful stints overseeing both the boys and girls programs at his alma mater - Puyallup
- from 2002-08 and 2012-21. After 30-plus years of service, he was inducted into the Washington State Wrestling
Coaches Association (WSWCA) hall of fame in 2023.

*Jordyn Bartelson was Washington’s second four-time WIAA girls champion (2013-16) behind Kiona-Benton’s
Sheridan McDonald, winning state titles at 118 pounds as a ninth grader and sophomore, and 120 pounds as a junior
and senior. Her career record was 143-7 with 127 pins.

*Brooklyn Bartelson was also highly-accomplished at the state level, winning the 120-pound title as a senior in 2017.
She also was a state runner-up twice - at 112 pounds as a ninth grader in 2014, and 110 pounds as a junior in 2016.
She placed third as a sophomore in the 115-pound class in 2015, and finished her prep career with a 136-18 record
with 114 pins. She also was the only member of her family to wrestle in college (Simon Fraser University).
*And like his two older sisters, Chance Bartelson wrestled for his father at Puyallup. He was a two-time state
participant and senior team captain during the pandemic-shortened 2021 season.
“Wrestling,” Chance Bartelson said, “was something that brought us all together.”

A son of a military boxing champion, Bryan Bartelson had tried a variety of sports while at Edgemont Junior High
School in the mid-1980s before he was introduced to wrestling during a three-week instructional in physical-education
class.

He instantly gravitated toward it - and set a goal to someday become a state high school champion.
Bryan Bartelson came close, placing third as a senior in 1986 - which led to another goal as he pursued coaching.
“I will be the hardest worker in the room,” he said.
He was a volunteer assistant in youth programs around east Pierce County until he was hired to coach Orting Middle
School in 1988.

“There were 14 kids who were all different weights,” Bartelson said. “We had super old polyester singlets with track
shorts - all hand-me-downs - for uniforms. I remember I washed so many cars that first year to fund-raise for gear.”

Slowly, he turned a middling program into a force on the mat. And two years later, after he was hired as the new
Orting High School coach, he began turning that program around as well.
“It was sort of an, ‘If you build it, they will come’ thing,” Bartelson said.

In 1999, Bartelson hired good friend and former Puyallup teammate Mike Sowards as an assistant - and turned over
the reins to him a year later when he resigned to manage the family business (Bartelson Transport) after his father,
Byron, had died.

The groundwork for greatness was set: It happened, too. Since 2009, Orting has won seven WIAA team wrestling
championships and established itself as one of the state’s powerhouses under Sowards (2000-12) and now Jody
Coleman (2013-present).

“I have never seen anybody work like him,” Sowards said. “Everything he does, he puts in 100 percent. It’s because
he cannot stand to fail. His wife (Jennifer) is the same way.”

With his business flourishing and his family growing up, Bartelson jumped back into high school coaching at Puyallup,
just in time to mentor future five-time national champion Whitney (Conder) Cox, one of the trailblazers of girls
wrestling in Washington.

After a four-year hiatus, Bartelson returned to the Vikings in 2012 in time to coach his three children - all of whom
spent countless upbringing hours around their dad in a wrestling room.

“We grew up in the gym going to practices, tournaments and matches with my dad. Mom was part of that, too,”
Jordyn Bartelson said. “When I go back to the gym, I can picture the scenes and smells, and hear my dad’s voice.
“It was a huge part of my childhood memories.”

As the girls sport continued to rise in popularity - and numbers - the high school success of Jordyn and Brooklyn
Bartelson only helped accelerate that growth.
“Other people might have thought we were pioneers,” Brooklyn Bartelson said, “but all Jordyn and I did was show up
to wrestle.”

All of the qualities cultivated in wrestling - toughness, insatiable drive and unmatched work ethic - transferred well to
other athletic endeavors.

Jordyn and Brooklyn Bartelson played youth soccer for their mother, who was a five-sport standout at Rogers High
School of Puyallup (1990 graduate). In fact, that is the sport the oldest sibling chose as her future sport in college.
A three-year all-4A SPSL starting midfielder at Puyallup, Jordyn Bartelson signed with Western Washington
University in 2016, and was a regular on the Vikings’ NCAA Division II national championship squad months later.
She also was a national runner-up as a senior in 2019, and her 92 career appearances rank No. 2 in school history.
She even still plays soccer today - for the indoor Snohomish County FC Steelheads that are playing at nationals in
April.

“I don’t have a great answer why I chose soccer over wrestling,” Jordyn Bartelson said. “I played for Washington
Premier (FC), and they fostered a culture of going off to play in college - so I did that.”
Both sisters played two seasons on Puyallup’s fastpitch squad, and were starters on the school’s WIAA championship
team in 2014 - Jordyn at second base, and Brooklyn at third base.

Chance Bartelson was a cornerback and holder on the Vikings’ football team, and dabbled in baseball, soccer and
judo as a youth.

“Wrestling makes you tough - and these kids are tough,” Bryan Bartelson said. “And that flowed into every other sport
they played. It helped them raise the bar. They weren’t the best athletes, but they were mental warriors in what they
did. You could not break them.”

 

And in a full-circle instance, all of them have made their way back to wrestling - as adult coaches. Bryan Bartelson
recently opened the barn to house a family-oriented Puyallup freestyle wrestling club. All of his children will stop by to
help instruct.

“Once you wrestle,” Chance Bartelson said, “everything else in life is so easy.”