Othello, Ephrata wrestlers sharp at SunDome

Prep wrestling recaps

YAKIMA - Central Washington Athletic Conference rivals Othello and Ephrata held their own last weekend at the SunDome Mat Classic wrestling meet.

The Huskies finished sixth in the 27-team event, compiling 140.5 points and placing eight individuals within the top 10 of their respective classes. The Tigers were eighth, scoring 127 points and placing seven.

The CWAC dominated the meet, with Ellensburg scoring 185.5 points to place first. Toppenish, Selah, Wapato and Prosser all finished among the top 11 teams.

Othello's highest finisher was 125-pounder Nicoh Montemayor. The fifth seed, he advanced to the quarterfinals with a pair of minor decisions, then edge Wapato's Gustavo Lopez with an 11-9 overtime decision. Montemayor lost the title match to Selah's Robert Espinoza in a third-period pin.

Othello's Reuben Lopez placed third at 130 pounds. Lopez was the top seed, but fell in the semifinals with a 13-2 major decision to eventual champion Brandon Yeik of Olympic. Lopez finished the event with a 20-5 technical fall over Rafael Osorio of Toppenish.

Huskie 160-pounder Kevin Smith was also ranked at the top of his class, and reached the semifinals before falling to West Valley-Yakima's Eddie Reeves. Smith took third place with a second-period pin of Sehome's Thayne Yazzie.

Quinton Hendrickson was Ephrata's top placer, taking third at 145 pounds. Hendrickson, the sixth seed, strolled through his first two matches with a pair of pins. He lost 9-8 to eventual champ Karl Neumann of Klahowya, then took third with a 6-1 win over Selah's Justin Santos.

Othello's Michael Carmona was the No. 1 seed in the 285-pound bracket, but was upset by Ellensburg's Blake Nichols in the quarterfinals. Carmona had to settle for sixth place after losing a 13-4 major decision to Selah's Brock Huffman.

Other Othello medalists included Anthony Melo, eighth at 119; Kiki Rebuelta, seventh at 135; Amando DeLeon, eighth at 145; and Tyson Alvarez, ninth at 152.

Ephrata's medalists included Anthony Bush, eighth at 112; Brenton Beard, seventh at 119; Brandon Butcher, eighth at 125; Kurt Nygard, sixth at 135; Robert Bossert, ninth at 140 and Ryan Cross, seventh at 152.

The Huskies and Tigers will see each other again on Thursday as part of a CWAC double dual meet. Othello will compete against North Division foe Ellensburg, while Ephrata crosses over to face South Division opponent Selah. Action begins at 5 p.m.

Tri-State Tournament

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho - Royal finished 22nd and Moses Lake was 24th as both teams competed in one of the area's most renowned annual meets at North Idaho College.

Flathead, Mont., destroyed the competition to win with 208 points. Royal scored 60.5 points and Moses Lake had 52.5.

Royal's Sam Villegas had a tremendous tournament, finishing second at 145 pounds to Michael Mangrum of Auburn-Riverside. Villegas won three of his first four matches with first-period pins, and the fourth was a 16-0 technical fall. In the semifinals, Villegas outlasted Orting's John Thompson 9-5, but Mangrum got the pin late in first period of their championship showdown.

Royal's Omar Avelar placed fourth at 135 pounds, opening with a 12-3 decision against Kamiah, Idaho's Slade Jacobs. He beat Auburn-Riverside's Nick Courtney 11-5 and East Valley-Spokane's Jake Rodriguez 6-3 to reach the semifinals, but fell 6-2 to eventual champion Kyle Johnson of Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls.

Moses Lake's Tad Harman took eighth at 285 pounds. He lost his first match, but shut out Jordan Jackson of Kelso to open consolation play. Harman also pinned Auburn-Riverside's Nick Conlan and Mead's Cody Foote.

Warden 72, White Swan 9

WARDEN - Warden smoked visiting White Swan in one half of a non-conference double dual last Thursday, winning 12 of the 14 bouts, all of them by pins.

At 103 pounds, Warden's Carlos Gomez beat Rygh Bailey in 34 seconds. At 112, Franky Jimenez pinned Tad Blodgett at 2:30. Chelsea Dinsmoor was a five-second winner over Iola Sanchez at 119.

Warden's Jesse Guerra won in 1:07 over Kevin Thompson at 125 pounds. At 130, Robert Pruneda pinned Zach Tenney at 1:24. Chris Kalous took 45 seconds to down Efrain Moya at 135.

Kameron Tamayo won his 140-pound match over Martell Benson in 1:15. Lupe Landeros (145) followed with a 1:14 pin of Andrew Garcia. Scott Phillips (160) defeated Jessica Rams in 46 seconds.

Dakota Scott (171) took 1:45 to pin Oscar Gonzalez. Isaac Deleon (215) pinned Billy Yates at 1:02. Joey Massa (285) was a 76-second victor over Jose Pandura.

Warden 41, Granger 28

WARDEN - In the much more competive of the two Thursday duals, the Cougars got two pins and two technical falls to upend the Spartans.

Jimenez (112) held on to win 9-5 and Sam Suarez (130) won by forfeit. Kalous (140) buried his man 19-4 and Landeros (145) also won by forfeit.

Phillips pinned his 160-pound opponent at 5:34 and Scott (171) followed with a 17-9 major decision. Deleon (215) won with a second-period pin and Massa (285) ripped off a 20-5 technical fall.

The Cougar varsity doesn't return to the mats until after the New Year, hosting Kiona-Benton in the South Central Athletic Conference East Division opener at 7 p.m. on Jan. 3.

Quincy 49, Wapato 21

WAPATO - The Jackrabbits moved to 2-0 in CWAC play last Thursday, winning six of the first eight matches.

After a double forfeit at 103 pounds, Quincy's Tony Lee pinned 112-pound foe Eddie Flores at 5:42. Carlos Magana, fresh off a title at the Connell Invitational, pinned Wapato's J.C. Frazier at 5:43.

The Wolves won the next two matches and got within 12-9, but the Jacks responded with four straight wins. Manny Ybarra (135) pinned Francisco Palacios in 25 seconds, Danny Somers (140) defeated Kenny Garza 14-2, Ronald Sorto (145) won by forfeit, and Colby Melburn (152) outlasted Jaymar Imperial 6-2.

Quincy's Breck Webley (171) pinned Michael Bustos in 2:52. Michael Reyes (189) pinned Efrain Zaragoza at 2:28. Max Melburn (215) topped Lucas Velesquez at the 48-second mark.

The Jacks look to stay undefeated in league on Thursday when they host Prosser at 7 p.m.

Prosser 38, Othello 33

PROSSER - The host Mustangs surged past the Huskies last Thursday with a forfeit in the evening's last match.

Othello's Michael Carmona (285) gave the Huskies a 33-32 lead with a forfeit victory, but the Huskies had no one to fill the 103-pound slot.

Prosser took control of the match, however, with five straight victories between 152 and 215. That offset three solid wins and two forfeits that went Othello's way.

Huskie 125-pounder Nicoh Montemayor took out Ethan Groom with a 12-4 major decision, and 130-pounder Reuben Lopez followed with a pin of Leonel Solorzano at 3:23. Kiki Rebuelta (135) made it three straight victories for Othello, nailing Carlos Hernandez for a 19-2 technical falls.

Jake Smith (112) and Amando DeLeon (145) won by forfeit for the Huskies.