Four Chiefs make Regional finals

SPOKANE — The Chiefs took third at the Region 4 wrestling tournament Saturday, earning 147.5 points as a team.

John Fackrell was Moses Lake's only champion Saturday, defeating Jacob Neumann of Central Valley in the 189-pound finals.

Fackrell swept his opponents to enter the finals, beating Ian Tyrrel of Mead and Isaac Fry of Lewis and Clark.

In the final matchup against Neumann, Fackrell took a 3-0 lead in the second period after a scoreless first round. Fackrell earned an escape and followed it with a takedown to earn his lead and finished the match out with a pin at 3:51 to take the title.

"John did an awesome job," said Moses Lake head coach Jamie Wise. "John has always had pretty close matches with Jacob and it's nice for John to pin him. I think it's nice for everyone to have that big win right before state."

Gabe Guzman was the first Chiefs' wrestler to make an appearance in the finals, facing off against Philip Smith of Mead in the 119-pound finals.

The wrestlers battled to a 3-3 tie after two rounds with Smith earning a takedown and Guzman earning a penalty point for a stall in the first round. Guzman then earned a reversal in the second period and had it countered by an escape from Smith. Both wrestlers earned reversals in the third round to send the match into overtime.

In overtime Guzman was felled by a takedown from Smith, losing 7-5.

"I wish the refs had been a little more on top of that match," said Wise. "Smith was taking Gabe's knee out of it's normal range of motion and that's illegal. Gabe did an awesome job of getting the match to stalemates."

Guzman defeated Chase Ferrozzo of Central Valley and Dylan Morgan of Ferris to reach the finals.

In the 135-pound finals, Jordan Hill of Moses Lake took on Justin Schadler of Pasco.

Both wrestlers were scoreless through the first round with Schadler striking first in the second, earning a takedown that was countered by a reversal from Hill. Schadler earned another reversal to close out the period. Schadler opened the third period with another reversal but Hill battled back, earning an escape and takedown to pull within one point of Schadler. The Pasco wrestler seemed to put the bout out of reach with an escape but back-to-back penalties that benefited Hill pushed the match into overtime.

In overtime Schadler scored a takedown to win 9-7.

"Jordan had his chances," said Wise. "He's lost twice in tight situations to Schadler now. This week we'll be working on his defense."

Hill defeated Chris Tripplet of Gonzaga Prep and Jeff Croskrey of Central Valley on his way to the finals.

Moses Lake's final championship bout pitted Brett Frederickson against Dimitri Miles of Pasco, in what may be a preview of the state title matchup.

The two wrestlers have matched up several times over the last few seasons and have maintained a friendly rivalry during that time. In the vein of all good friendly rivalries, Frederickson and Miles spent the first round feeling each other out and ended it scoreless.

Miles struck first in the second round, earning an escape from the down position. Frederickson tied the match with an escape of his own in the third period. As time expired in the match Miles was credited for a takedown to win 3-1.

"From our perspective that was very disappointing," said Wise. "It was one of those times when we felt the refs should have let the kids wrestle and decide the match in overtime."

Frederickson beat Ryyan Kernkamp of Ferris and Billy McGlasson of University to reach the finals.

At 125 pounds, Matt Palmer defeated Josh Rettinghouse of Ferris to finish third and earn a state berth. Cody Hoiness fell to Nick Garcia of Davis at 140 pounds, finishing fourth and qualifying for state. Ty Sainsbury finished fourth, losing to Greg Mitchell of University at 171 pounds to earn a state berth. Tad Harman lost to Tony Fiore at 285 pounds, to finish fourth and qualify for state.

Moses Lake's Tyler Vela finished fifth after defeating Jake Anderson of Mead at 112 pounds. Josh Nielsen of Moses Lake also earned a fifth place finish, beating Bobby Everson at 160 pounds. Both wrestlers will be alternates at state in their weight classes.

"Eight with two alternates isn't bad, I guess," said Wise. "It's heartbreaking to lose two overtime matches on questionable calls. Only taking eight makes it tougher to finish in the top five."

Thomas Pfeiffer was Moses Lake's only other placer, falling to Kido Espinoza of Davis, to take sixth at 130 pounds.

Pasco won the meet as team with 185.5 points and were followed closely by the University team which earned 183.5 points.