Basin wrestlers take gold

TACOMA — The Basin took the Mat Classic XVIII finals by storm Saturday.

In the 2A competition for the 140 pound state title, Dallas Hintz of Ephrata matched up against Phillip Ontiveros of Othello.

In the first round, neither wrestler gave the other a significant opening for the first minute of the bout and a double stall warning was called on both wrestlers. As time wore on another double stall was called, tying the match at one apiece. In the closing seconds of the first round, Ontiveros scored a take down to take the lead.

"That was the official putting himself in the center of the match," said Ephrata head coach Dave Laird. "He (the official) has no business officiating a state championship match.

"That doesn't take away from Phillip. He wrestled a good match."

Ontiveros pressed his advantage in the second round, earning an escape against Hintz to begin the period. Again, both wrestlers circled, looking for an opening, and again, both were charged with a stall. As the final minute of the round approached Hintz moved in to take Ontiveros down but only succeeded in driving him out of bounds and was charged with a 2-point stalling penalty to give Ontiveros a 7-2 lead going into the third round.

In the third period, Hintz was credited with two escapes but could earn no other points on Ontiveros. Ontiveros, in turn, scored two take downs on Hintz to win the bout 11-4 and take the title.

"I couldn't be prouder of Dallas and the way he wrestled," said Laird.

"He (Phillip) wrestled Dallas earlier in the season and took about 100 shots on him. We wanted him to take one good shot instead of 100 and he did that," said Othello head coach Ruben Martinez. "He's (Phillip) had a great tournament. He deserves that."

Of the win Ontiveros said, "It feels great."

Forty-four other wrestlers from Royal City, Warden, Othello, Moses Lake, Ephrata, Quincy, Ritzville and Mattawa converged on the Tacoma Dome Thursday.

In all of the final bouts the Basin wrestlers represented their respective teams to the best of their ability and with the pride the area has earned over the years.

The six winners of this year's Mat Classic worked for a state title, pushing through various stages of competition including making weight, wrestling through qualifying rounds and stepping on to the mat for that final bout.

Jake Horn recorded the first finals win for the Columbia Basin, wrestling for Ephrata High School in the 112 weight class.

Horn faced off against Darren Frasquillo of Klahowya High School, who won all three of his qualifying matches by decision.

Both wrestlers ground out the first round, keeping it close and ending the round in a 2-2 tie. Horn was able to get Frasquillo on his back in the second period and earn a 3-point near fall to take the lead.

From there, he never looked back and won the match by decision 10-2.

At 119 pounds, Jose Barajas of Royal took on Michael Einman of South Bend in the finals.

Jose took a commanding lead in the first round of the bout. He earned a take down and then finished the point series with a 3-point near fall against Einman.

In the second round, Jose began the period in the down position. On the whistle, Jose earned a reversal and another take down for a 9-1 lead.

Fifty seconds into the final round of the bout, Jose caught Einman and pinned him for a win by fall.

Omar Avelar and Arturo Barajas, both of Royal, faced off against each other for the 125 AB state title.

Arturo took an early 2-0 lead on a take down in the first round to begin the match.

Avelar was able to keep the match close in the first two minutes, fending off further points for Arturo.

In the second round, Arturo opened up a huge 9-0 lead. Arturo began the round in the down position and was able to earn a reversal. After scoring the reversal Arturo recorded two near falls. The first was a 3-point near fall that nearly ended the match, the second was a 2-point near fall with time winding down. The scoring combination gave Arturo a 9-0 lead after four minutes.

Avelar rallied in the final round, earning five points against Arturo but it was not enough to win the bout. Arturo earned the win with a 13-5 score.

"To tell you the truth, it's kind of anti-climactic to have two guys wrestling each other in the finals," said Royal head coach Ben Orth of seeing two of his wrestlers pitted against each other in the finals. "I'm glad Arturo won, he's earned it."

Freddie Flores of Othello was a returning state champion wrestling against Justin Eastman of Rochester, another state champion, in the 145 bout Saturday.

Flores staged the kind of comeback that lives on in state finals history.

After two rounds, Flores was down by a dismal eight points after suffering three take downs and a 3-point near fall in the early rounds.

In the final period of the match, Flores gained a point after a penalty was called on Eastman and then earned a reversal and a take down to make up more ground.

With a mere 33 seconds remaining in the match, Flores pinned Eastman to win.

Zack Brissey of Ephrata earned the only other title for an individual Basin wrestler Saturday.

Brissey, wrestling at 152, took on Russell Luellen of Elma.

In the first round, Brissey took over the match with a take down and 3-point near fall for a 5-0 lead. He was able to extend his lead in the second period with a reversal and take down.

After earning the 9-point lead, Ephrata's Laird could be heard calling, "Zack, you have enough points to win the match!"

Brissey finished the match by earning another six points in the third round to beat Luellen 15-2.

"That was a lot better," said Laird in reference to Brissey's win. "He wrestled smart. He's worked so hard and been dedicated to doing the things he needs to do. To win state is a culmination of his whole high school career."

"It (the match) went great. It went as planned," said Brissey. "I expected to come here and win it and it feels great to do that."

In other matches, Roberto Cruz of Moses Lake earned a berth into the state finals after dominating the 4A 103 bracket.

In his final bout of state Cruz, who has wrestled just two years, battled out a tough match against Nick Cambron, a wrestler who beat him earlier in the season at the Pacific Northwest Classic.

The Moses Lake contingent in attendance held a collective breath for Cruz, a wrestler both respected and admired by those who've met and wrestled with him, as he began his championship match.

After working a few first round jitters out, Cruz was able to score two take downs on Cambron and earn a 4-3 lead.

Cruz continued to press his advantage in the second round, taking Cambron down a third time before Cambron earned an escape.

In the third round, Cambron was able to tie the match at 8 and send the bout into overtime.

Cruz battled tough in overtime but was taken down after a shot from Cambron.

"He's tough, strong and quick," said Moses Lake head coach Jaime Wise. "I'm happy with his performance."

In the 2A 215 championship match, Rudy Ochoa of Othello faced off against Dan Worley of Cashmere.

Worley overpowered Ochoa in the first round, earning a take down and a 3-point near fall for a 5-0 lead.

Ochoa battled to earn a take down against Worley in the second round but could not overtake his opponent.

In the final round of the match, Worley took Ochoa to the mat before the Othello wrestler was able to earn his final points of the match with a reversal.

Worley took the title with an 8-4 victory.

Freshman Sam Villegas of Royal took on Brett Stigall in the AB 130 pound championship bout.

Stigall earned a quick take down and pinned Villegas after seven seconds.

Another freshman from Royal, Angel Ledezma, wrestled against Jordan Hancock of Republic, who had earned two pins in the tournament, in the 135 finals.

Ledezma fell behind 2-0 in the opening round and was pinned at 3:09.

Nels Toftdahl, Royal's last wrestler in the finals, matched up against Benton Crow of Raymond at 140 pounds.

Toftdahl took a 2-0 lead on Crow after a shot for a take down in the first round.

Crow took over the lead in the second round on a take down and 3-point near fall.

In the final round, Toftdahl earned three points but could not regain the lead. Crow defeated Toftdahl 9-6 for the title.

At 275, Nathan Alvarado was Warden's only wrestler in the finals Saturday. Alvarado squared off against Jared Little of Raymond.

Little earned two take downs in the early going and finished off the match earning a penalty point from Alvarado to take the title 5-2.