Eight medalists guide Chiefs at Inland Empire wrestling

Prep wrestling recaps

SPOKANE - David Peralez, Gabe Guzman, Spencer Fackrell and Thomas Pfeiffer all finished third in their respective weights, leading the Moses Lake wrestling team to a fourth-place effort over the weekend at the Inland Empire Tournament.

Peralez earned his medal at 119 pounds with an 8-0 major decision over Vang Lor of Rogers. Peralez earned two other minor decisions along the way and began the tournament with a 15-0 technical fall over Richland's Jacob Bieber.

Guzman finished off the event with a 17-second pin of Cheney's Austin Combs, taking third at 130 pounds. Guzman reached the medal round with a 12-2 major decision over University's Justin Livingston and a second-period pin of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho's Zack Stamper.

Fackrell dominated his first two 215-pound foes, beating University's Marques Johnson 15-2 and pinning Sentinel's Bentley Alsup. Fackrell rebounded from a semifinal loss to pin Richland's Aaron Sevigny and Ryan Kernkamp of Ferris.

At 145 pounds, Pfeiffer got a little revenge against Cheney's Jason Skjothaug. After Skjothaug removed him from championship contention with a 7-6 decision in the quarterfinals, Pfeiffer beat Skjothaug in the third/fourth-place match with a second-period pin.

Moses Lake, which scored 147.5 team points to finish behind champion Hermiston (77), University (153.5) and Mead (152), had four other wrestlers return home with medals.

At 140 pounds, John Silva earned fourth place after a 3-2 overtime loss to Ellensburg's Tyler Carter. Silva won a pair of 6-0 decisions and another with a 43-second pin to reach the medal round.

Josh Nielsen took fifth at 171 pounds, pinning University's Garret Nichols and Christian Alexander of Ferris to reach the semifinals. He lost his next two matches, but finished the tournament with a 4-1 decision over Cheney's Ryan McNair.

Tad Harman also earned fifth at 285 pounds, closing with a 4-3 decision over Coeur d'Alene's Grant Turner. Harman's other two victories came via pin, and he rebounded well after losing his quarterfinal match to Cheney's Brandon Moseley.

At 189 pounds, Alvin Suarez finished sixth. He pinned his first two opponents, Sentinel's Jordan Creveling and Eisenhower's Rigo Valle, but dropped his last three matches, including an 11-6 overtime decision with Cheney's Chad Curtis in the fifth/sixth-place bout.

At 160, Moses Lake's Logan Phelps lost his qualifying match to Cheney's Zack Fields and was eliminated early on Friday.

Andrew Valdez (112) pinned two opponents, but was knocked out with an 11-1 decision to University's Brandon Byers. Tyler Vela (125) found himself in a similar situation, dropping out of medal contention with a 9-2 loss to Hermiston's Chase Winters.

Seth Stones (135) also fell a bit short of the medal round, though he won two matches. Parker Byington (152) and Jacob Courtright (103) were both eliminated with two straight losses.

Connell Invite

CONNELL - The Royal Knights were bolstered by three championship efforts, winning the Connell Invite on Saturday with 218.5 points.

Royal 145-pounder Sam Villegas earned a title with a major decision victory over Dayton's Willy Whipple. Angel Ledezma followed suit at 152 by pinning Cascade Christian's Chad Warren, and Hector Ledezma got the 189-pound crown with a technical fall over Warden's Isaac DeLeon.

The Knights' other medalists included Hank Ellis (103), Ethan Tonnemaker (112), Rigoberto Jimenez (119), Travis Villegas (125), Chencho Lopez (130), Omar Avelar (140), TJ Hunt (215) and Edgar Montoya (285).

Quincy finished second with 166.5 points. The Jackrabbits won two titles as 119-pounder Carlos Magana pinned Royal's Jimenez in the finals, and 125-pounder Armando Herrera did the same to Kiona-Benton's Andy Campbell.

Quincy's other medalists included Danny Somers (140), Manny Ybarra (135), Breck Webley (171), Michael Reyes (189) and Max Melburn (285).

The Warden Cougars took fifth place by scoring 135.5 points, just back of third-place Chelan and fourth-place Connell.

Warden didn't have any champions, but 160-pounder Scott Phillips and 189-pounder DeLeon both reached the finals and placed second. Phillips lost by decision to River View's Chris Strawn.

Warden's placers also included Jesse Guerra (130), Robert Pruneda (135), Arturo Martinez (171) and Tony Martinez (285).

Leonard Schutte Invitational

OTHELLO - Michael Carmona and Reuben Lopez won titles for the host Huskies, but Great Northern League power Riverside breezed to the team title with seven individual championships on Saturday.

Lopez earned his title at 130 pounds with a 19-9 major decision over Riverside's Mike Jones. Carmona, Othello's 285-pounder, beat Kamiakin's Kyle Sutphin 5-2.

Four other Huskies earned medals at the event, including three runner-up finishes. At 125, Nicoh Montemayor reached the final only to be turned away by Riverside's Justin Hodge. At 160, Kevin Smith finished second after losing a major decision to Riverside's Jacob DesRoches. Othello's Kiki Rebuelta took second at 140 after a 10-5 defeat to Kamiakin's Pedro Mendoza.

The Huskies' other medalist was 152-pounder Amando DeLeon, who tied for third with Goldendale's Caleb Ferch.

Othello 43, Wapato 33

OTHELLO - On Friday, the Huskies hosted the Quad Duels against Hoquiam, Riverside, Wapato and Burlington-Edison.

Othello earned the victory over Central Washington Athletic Conference rival Wapato by winning seven of the 13 contested weights.

At 119, Anthony Melo pinned Wapato's KC Frazier in 61 seconds. At 135, Lopez was a second-period pin winner over Eduardo Torres. At 140, Chris Gifford did the same to Kenny Garza.

Rebuelta won his 145-pound bout by forfeit. Tyson Alvarez (152) earned a 14-5 major decision against Jaymar Impereal. DeLeon (160) blanked Jose Martinez 6-0. Smith (171) pinned Francisco Padilla in the second round.

Othello 55, Burlington-Edison 24

OTHELLO - The Huskies were sharper against the visiting Tigers, winning 10 of 14 bouts.

Melo pinned Marco Rodriguez in the second period of their 119-pound match. Matt Jordan (125) needed two overtimes, but gutted out a 10-6 win over Robert Campos. Montemayor (130) pinned David Anderson in 31 seconds, and Lopez (135) pinned Terrance Cheattle in the third period.

At 140, Gifford pinned Keith Thomas in one minute. Rebuelta (145) earned a 15-1 major decision over Fabian Medina, while DeLeon (152) pinned Jaime Knutzen at 1:05.

Smith (171), Sage Hines (189) and Jusdyn Lynch (215) all won their matches via forfeit.