King of the ring: Decatur's Bressler at his best on wrestling mat

Before entering his first tournament as a sixth-grader, Kyle Bressler had never competed in an official wrestling match.

But with a father, Mike Bressler, who wrestled at Washington and an older brother, Jason, who was already several years into freestyle wrestling, Bressler was hardly inexperienced.

"I started when my brother was heavy into it, and we rolled around on the carpet a lot," said Bressler, a Decatur senior who has his sights set on a second straight Class 4A state title at 189 pounds. "Personally, everything I am today is because of my brother. Big brothers are supposed to beat up on you, and that's what he did."

Kyle, 18, has delivered most of the beatings since, and he does it in three sports.

Bressler, 5 feet 11 and 190 pounds, won his first state high-school championship while a ninth-grader at Saghalie Middle School in Federal Way. Teamed with Jason, now a defender for the Seattle University men's soccer team, Kyle was starting goalkeeper as Decatur rolled to an unbeaten soccer season. The following spring, he was first team all-South Puget Sound League South Division goalkeeper as the Gators again went undefeated and repeated as Class 4A state champions.

In football, Bressler earned first-team all-SPSL South honors as a fullback while rushing for more than 1,000 yards, and as a linebacker after leading the league in tackles. After helping Decatur to its first state-playoff berth, he was rewarded with selection to The Star Times' all-area football team as a linebacker.

Bressler is one of the area's finest all-around athletes, but he's at his best on the wrestling mat. He has a 72-6 record the past two seasons. He rolled to a 36-1 record last season, avenging a loss in the regional tournament final by beating rival Scott Labrash of Bothell with a second-round pin in the state-title match at 189.

Bressler thrives in the man against man world of wrestling. Behind every six minutes of glory on match night are hours of grueling practice. And when you fail, there is nowhere to hide.

"You can't blame a loss on anybody else," Bressler said. "It's you and your opponent. You don't make excuses."

Bressler is not expected to need any this season. His biggest challenge may be choosing which sport to pursue in college and which school to attend.

"Right now I'm deciding between football and wrestling," he said. "I just can't make a decision, but I've got to soon."

He is also unclear on his major — he's leaning toward pre-med but also enjoys engineering — but whatever he chooses, his 3.97 grade-point average will be no barrier.

"Quite frankly, I think his favorite sport is football," said Mike Bressler, Decatur's wrestling coach. "Whatever he wants to do, he will succeed at, but his education is the No. 1 thing."

Kyle learned a tough lesson during a match as a sophomore. Leading 8-0, he was pinned by Labrash in their 171-pound state quarterfinal and went on to a fifth-place finish. But it was Labrash's win in last year's regional final, a defeat that ended Bressler's unbeaten season, that provided a real wake-up call.

"Losing in the regional final, that opened my eyes," said Bressler. "My head wasn't really clear going in, but it was after that."

As a fullback, Bressler's style is strictly wrecking-ball. As a wrestler, he complements his strength and compact build with smooth quickness and technical expertise.

"It seems like everything he does is just so natural and fluid," said Chris Corey, a 225-pound senior heavyweight at Decatur who regularly faces Bressler in practice. "He's got all the confidence you need in this sport, and there's nothing he doesn't do to get ahead of his opponent."

Bressler also practices against 215-pound teammate Taylor McCluskey and assistant coach Roger Wingert, a former Highline Community College wrestler who weighs nearly 200.

Going against bigger foes is nothing new to Bressler after knocking heads with Jason all those years. Still, by the time Kyle was a 171-pound sophomore, his "big" brother was a 160-pound senior.

Kyle gave a preview of what was to come at that first freestyle tournament, despite making the trip primarily to watch Jason compete.

"He went along with Jason and I, and the only experience he had was on the carpet," Mike Bressler said. "But he had his shoes along, and I asked him if he wanted to wrestle.

"Then I entered him in the tournament, and he won the darn thing."