Three Basin wrestlers take titles

TACOMA — Ten wrestlers earned the right to wrestle in the Mat Classic XIX finals Saturday.

It was not until the last three weight classes of the night, that the Basin crowned champions.

Two of those champions were from Moses Lake High School — John Fackrell at 189 pounds and Brett Fredericksen at 215 pounds. The third champion from the Basin was Tradon Benson of Royal in the 285-pound class.

Fackrell, a senior, capped off his wrestling career with a 9-1 victory over Tim Hester of Shorewood.

"It's awesome," said Fackrell. "(Winning a title is) fulfillment at its best."

The bout began slowly, with both wrestlers feeling each other out and ending with Fackrell earning a takedown for a 2-0 lead going into the second period.

Fackrell chose to be down to begin the second period and earned a quick escape to extend his lead. He finished out the round with another takedown.

The third round began with Hester's choice of both wrestlers in neutral position. Hester moved in, working to earn points but was taken down by Fackrell. The Shorewood wrestler earned an escape only to be taken down again by Fackrell.

Fackrell rode out the short time left in the third period to take the 189-pound title.

Fredericksen watched his teammate defeat Hester as he warmed up for his championship bout against Brandon Richardson of Heritage.

Fredericksen jumped out to an early lead in the first round, earning a takedown and cradling the Heritage wrestler for a 3-point near fall.

To begin the second round, Fredericksen chose to be down and got into a troublesome patch when Richardson caught him on his back to earn a 2-point near fall. Fredericksen earned an escape to put a 4-point distance between him and his opponent before the end of the round.

Richardson began the third period down and earned two points on back-to-back penalties against Fredericksen to close the scoring gap. The Heritage wrestler then earned an escape to make it 6-5.

"It feels good (to win a title)," said Fredericksen. "I got off to a good start and was able to hold on."

With time winding down, Fredericksen was able to avoid any more penalties, taking the bout and the title.

"Everyone's goal is to get on the wall and to be as far left on the wall as possible," said Moses Lake head coach Jamie Wise. "Both of those kids have put in a lot of extra time this season and it's nice to see them rewarded."

In the final match of the 1A tournament, Royal's Trandon Benson faced Mabton's Eli Perez in a rematch of the regional finals. Benson pinned Perez at regionals, but led by just one point before recording the fall.

"I wasn't overconfident," said Benson of his mindset entering the championship match. "He's a good wrestler. Nothing but respect."

The state finals would be a different match altogether, as Benson dominated from the opening whistle. The Royal wrestler pushed Perez around the mat in the first round before earning a takedown for a 2-0 lead. Benson broke the bout open in the second period, scoring an escape, takedown and a 2-point near fall for a 7-0 lead.

Benson wrestled tough in the third round, adding to his lead and finishing his career with an 11-3 major-decision victory.

"He wrestled a smart match," said Royal coach Ben Orth of Benson's bout with Perez. "He stayed in good position and when he needed to go he fired it."

In the 2A championships, the Ephrata duo of 125-pound Jake Horn and 152-pound Dallas Hintz made appearances in their respective weight classes. Both wrestlers matched up against returning state champions from two teams that moved down a division during the offseason.

Horn took on Jimmy Belleville of Black Hills High School.

The bout began with a double stall warning called against both wrestlers and ended with a takedown for Belleville.

Horn came out of the down position in the second round to earn an escape and takedown to gain the lead but could not maintain it. Horn was called for a stall, tying the match at three and then gave up an escape to give Belleville a 1-point advantage going into the third round.

Belleville, who began the round down, was penalized for a stall to begin the third period, tying the match at four. The Black Hills wrestler was able to earn an escape, taking the lead with seconds remaining in the bout.

Horn tried to earn an escape with less than a second remaining in the match, but the effort was waived off by the officials, giving Belleville a 5-4 victory.

Hintz faced off against Derek Driscoll of W.F. West High School at 152 pounds.

Driscoll dominated the match in the first round, earning two takedowns and a 2-point near fall. Hintz was able to counteract Driscoll's efforts with an escape.

Hintz chose to be down in the second period and earned an escape and takedown to begin evening the match. Driscoll earned an escape of his own to end the round.

With a 3-point deficit going into the third round, Hintz was on top and forced to try to wrestle aggressively against the W.F. West wrestler.

Driscoll earned an escape to extend his lead to four points but gave one back after being penalized for a technical violation. Driscoll came back to the center and earned a takedown to maintain his lead.

Hintz's last point of the match was scored on an escape but it was not enough to stave off a 10-7 loss.

At 103 pounds, Warden's Frankie Jimenez was a surprise participant in the championship finals. The Cougar sophomore wrestled a tough match and never quit, but was simply matched up with a stronger wrestler in Orting's Garrett Mann. Jimenez lost his title match 12-0.

In the 125-pound weight class, Arturo Barajas of Royal won a pair of difficult matches to reach the finals, only to be rewarded with a match against Orting's Tony Farrington, a two-time defending state champion.

Farrington took Barajas down once in the first round and once in the second round on his way to building a 6-0 lead early in round three. Barajas picked up a penalty point and a takedown of Farrington as he valiantly battled to get back in the match, but time ran out on the Royal senior's comeback attempt as Farrington took the bout by a 7-3 decision.

Royal's Sam Villegas tore through the field to reach the 140-pound finals, but faced a tough test in Orting's John Thompson. The Orting wrestler beat Villegas earlier in the season at the Tri-State tournament.

Thompson's takedown of Villegas as time expired in the first round was the first points the Royal sophomore had allowed since the start of the post season. However, they would not be the last.

In the second round, Villegas momentarily got out of position, giving Thompson just enough time to execute a head-and-arm to take Villegas to his back. The Royal wrestler avoided the pin, but faced a 7-0 deficit at the start of the third round.

After trying unsuccessfully for 1:30 to score near-fall points on Thompson, Villegas cut the Orting wrestler loose and took him down with 14 seconds left in the match. It would be too little too late though as Thompson won by an 8-2 score.

Angel Ledezma of Royal squared off with Drew Walter of Omak in the 145-pound championship. Ledezma was pressing the action early, but no points were scored in the first round. Ledezma earned an escape in round two to take a 1-0 lead, but Walter came back with a takedown to grab a 2-1 lead.

In the third round, Ledezma gave Walter an escape in hopes of getting a match-tying takedown, but it was Walter who got the takedown with 26 seconds in the match to defeat Ledezma 5-1.

At 215 pounds, Warden's Justin Rollins had a difficult time handling the size and skill of Omak's Darrick Green. Rollins, who weighs in well under the 215-pound limit for the weight class, appeared to be overpowered as Green scored a takedown, a reversal and two near-falls to earn a 9-0 win over the Cougar senior.