Patrick O'Connors of R.A. Long became the first in 1994 and now is an assistant coach at Kelso. Martin Mitchell of Tonasket captured his fourth in 2001 and the following year Lake Stevens' Burke Barnes completed his four-peat.

Gary Witherspoon, who graduated from Marysville-Pilchuck in 1988, captured two Washington titles after winning two others in other states (Colorado and New Mexico).

Sitch, who has accepted a wrestling scholarship from the University of Minnesota, is wrestling at 160 pounds this season after winning at 145 last year.

His previous titles came at 135 and 119. He comes into the Class 3A tournament with a career record of 132-5, including a 28-1 mark this season. The lone loss came by injury default in mid-January.

As Mat Classic nears, the pressure has mounted for Sitch. So much so that he and his parents decided he should decline some requests for interviews, including one this week by The Seattle Times.

"He's focused on his goal," Kelso coach Bob Freund said.

But pressure is nothing new to Sitch, who is a five-time national finalist in freestyle and a four-time winner.

"Obviously, he handles it fairly well," Freund said.

Sitch, who carries a 3.9 grade-point average, also was the starting quarterback and cornerback on Kelso's football team. He has become accustomed to the spotlight, but doesn't particularly enjoy it.

"He doesn't say much about anything he does around here," Freund said.

If Sitch does the expected on Saturday, the accomplishment will speak for itself.

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