Othello earns fourth at districts

Quincy follows in fifth, Ephrata in seventh

OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies put four wrestlers into the finals on their way to a fourth-place finish at the CWAC District Tournament Saturday.

While Huskies Reuben Lopez, Jack Calvert, Kevin Smith and Jacob Johnston each came up short in their bids for a district championship, other Columbia Basin wrestlers were able to finish the weekend undefeated.

At 125 pounds, Ephrata's Jake Horn took the first step in the defense of his 2006 state title with a win by forfeit over Selah's Carlos Torres.

Dallas Hintz won the second individual title for Ephrata with ease, cruising to a 15-0 technical fall victory over Thomas Johnson of Ellensburg to claim the 152-pound title.

"He just dominated the whole field, which we expected," said Ephrata coach Dave Laird. "He wrestled probably as well as I've seen him wrestle all year."

Finally, Nick Melburn of Quincy pulled out a 9-7 win over Grandview's Jacob Robillard to win at 171 pounds.

The Huskies, who will send 10 wrestlers to next weekend's regional tournament in Ellensburg, had a solid weekend according to head coach Ruben Martinez.

"We did okay; I'm pretty happy with that," said Martinez of the 10 wrestlers Othello take to regionals. "We've got to be happy with the numbers we got."

"You need five or six kids to do well at state, and I think we have those five or six kids," added Martinez.

One Othello wrestler who may not be among the five or six is Derek Stelter, who reached the semifinals before injury-defaulting his next three matches to finish in sixth place.

Ephrata takes eight wrestlers to regionals, and if Stelter is unable to compete, 119-pound Kurt Nygard will be the ninth Tiger wrestling in the regional tournament.

Quincy sends 11 wrestlers to the regional tournament, with district runners-up Jared Reyes, Gabe Lindquist, and Kelly Schwint among those hoping to press through to the state tournament in Tacoma.

CWAC District Wrestling

1. Ellensburg, 253 points; 2. Toppenish, 213; 3. Selah, 194; 4. Othello, 188; 5. Quincy, 169; 6. Grandview, 165.5; 7. Ephrata, 158; 8. East Valley, 124.5.

Local Place Winners; Top Seven to regionals, eighth alternate

103 - 4, Jake Smith (O);7, Anthony Bush (E); 112 - 2, Reuben Lopez (O); 6, Carlos Magana (Q); 8, Anthony Villarreal (O); 119 - 2, Jared Reyes (Q); 5, Nicoh Montemayor (O); 6, Derek Stelter (O); 8, Kurt Nygard (E); 125 - 1, Jake Horn (E); 3, Henry Hernandez (Q); 8, Kikki Rebuelta (O);

130 - 2, Gabe Lindquist (Q); 3, Quinton Hendrickson (E); 8, Ryan Roylance (Q); 135 - 4, Tyson Hubbard (E); 6, Dan Somers (Q); 7, Ray Melo (O); 8, Daniel Walker (O); 140 - 2, Kevin Smith (O); 6, Tyson Alvarez (O); 8, Jesus Zafra (Q); 145 - 2, Jack Calvert (O); 3, Ryan Cross (E); 5, Colby Melburn (Q); 152 - 1, Dallas Hintz (E); 5, Breck Webley (Q);

171 - 1, Nick Melburn (Q); 5, Jakob Torgeson (E); 189 - 2, Kelly Schwint (Q); 3, David Repp (E); 215 - 2, Jacob Johnston (O); 5, Max Melburn (Q); 6, Anthony Johnson (E); 285 - 4, Michael Carmona (O).