Basin wrestlers should be force at regionals

MOSES LAKE - Coming off perhaps its most dominating district performance in recent memory, the Moses Lake wrestling team sees few reasons why they can't continue a hot streak into Mat Classic XX.

The Chiefs qualified 14 participants, including 10 district champions, for this weekend's 4A regional meet at Eisenhower High School in Yakima. The competition does get tougher as Greater Spokane League bruisers Central Valley, Mead and University will also be there, but Chiefs head coach Jamie Wise feels good about his squad's chances of winning the regional title and qualifying enough kids to make a serious run at the state title.

Moses Lake's key for the weekend is learning from its previous mistakes. The Chiefs have seen the GSL's best at the Pacific Northwest Classic and the Tri-State Tournament, and at least a few of those earlier losses need to go their way this time. The top four finishers at each weight go on to state.

"Technically we're better than we were and the kids are battling better," Wise said. "I think we're sitting pretty good for the first round - at least most of our kids. We had so many (district) champions and that really helps a lot."

In four different weights, Moses Lake qualified two wrestlers. Sophomore Ricco Moreno faces a key match to open the 125-pound bracket, facing Mead senior Philip Smith. On the opposite side of the bracket, junior Tyler Vela takes on Rogers freshman Aaron Brown.

At 135, Cameron Chlarson and Seth Stones dominated at districts, with both making the finals. Stones, a senior, begins his regional quest against Central Valley's Justin Walker. Chlarson, a junior, opens with Tyson Riehle of Ferris - an opponent Chlarson lost to earlier this year.

A potential second-round clash awaits the Chiefs at 140 pounds, as seniors Cody Hoiness and John Silva are in the same half of the bracket. Hoiness - the state's top-ranked wrestler for his weight and classification - takes on Scott Davis of Ferris in the first round. Silva opens with Shadle Park senior John Rittenhouse.

The Chiefs are also doubling up at 189 as junior Spencer Fackrell comes off a district title by taking on Mead's Scott Herrera, and senior Alvin Suarez squares off with Central Valley's Logan Bowman.

Wise believes another key weight is 152, where senior Parker Byington opens with University's RJ Daschbach. The Titans' senior beat Byington badly the last time around, but changes could be in store.

"That was Parker's first time really wrestling up at 152," Wise said. "Since then he's kind of grown into his body a bit more."

At 112, Andrew Valdez takes on University's Dan Seymour. David Peralez (119) and Gabe Guzman (130) are both coming off district titles, and both face Mead foes in the first round - Peralez against Jeremy Burkhardt and Guzman against Jake Anderson.

Thomas Pfeiffer (145) takes on Mead's Nick Bond, Josh Nielsen (160) has Central Valley's Cody Stratton, and Brian Chamberlain (171) is facing a familiar opponent in Central Valley's Andy Wickstrom - the two split a pair of regular-season meetings. Tad Harman (285) opens with Lewis and Clark's Andre Taylor.

Othello was the top local squad at the 2A district meet last weekend, finishing third, but Central Washington Athletic Conference rivals Quincy and Ephrata were hot on the Huskies' heels.

Othello has three district champions - Michael Carmona, Reuben Lopez and Kevin Smith - who figure to be locks for one of five state berths at each weight. Huskies head coach Ruben Martinez feels a few more can qualify as well.

"I think it would be a good goal for us to get six or seven kids," Lopez said. "I think, realistically, we have five kids we're counting on to make it."

District champs receive a first-round bye at the 2A combined regional with the Great Northern League. Carmona (285) will face Wapato's Hector Garza or Clarkston's Devin Norland in the quarterfinals. Lopez (130) gets either Rafael Osorio of Toppenish or Chase Flores of Riverside, while Smith (152) has either Keane Simpson of Ellensburg or Gabe Hocum of Clarkston.

Jake Smith (112) also gets a first-round bye before facing Quincy's Carlos Magana or Deer Park's Joe Hilpert. Tyson Alvarez (152) is in the same boat, facing Cheney's Austin Miller or East Valley-Yakima's Tim Logozzo in the quarters.

At 119, Matt Jordan gets fellow freshman Seth Grable of Deer Park. Nicoh Montemayor (125) also has a Deer Park foe - Bryan Rhoads - to open, while Amando DeLeon gets the winner of a preliminary "pig tail" match.

The Huskies have four other wrestlers who got the seventh and final seed at districts, meaning they'll be facing the GNL's No. 6 seed in pigtail matches. They are Chris Gifford (135), Daniel Walker (145), Jusdin Lynch (189) and Mark DeLaRosa (285).

"I think for right now, for us, it's trying to get the numbers - I think that's what everybody's worried about," Martinez said. "Obviously, we don't have the depth that Deer Park and Ellensburg and Riverside have."

Quincy has nine regional qualifiers, including district champs Dan Somers and Breck Webley. Somers (135) will get Othello's Kiki Rebuelta or Medical Lake's Bryce Dressler in the quarters, while Webley (160) matches up with Pullman's Chase Reynolds or Ramon Rodriguez of Toppenish.

The Jackrabbits doubled up at 112. Junior Tony Lee opens with Cheney's Duncan Rhodes and junior Carlos Magana takes on Deer Park's Joe Hilpert. Armando Herrera (125) starts with Pullman's Brad Church.

Michael Reyes (189) and Max Melburn (215) both received byes. Reyes will open with East Valley's Jakob Moser or Riverside's Hunter Orgill, and Melburn gets either Justin Dellinger of Ellensburg or Brandon Groat of Pullman.

Freshman Manny Ybarra (130) gets the winner of a pig tail match in the first round. Colby Melburn (152) takes on Medical Lake's Eric Bruce.

Ephrata has a huge contingency in the pigtail matches, meaning the Tigers' regional fortunes could be decided early. Brandon Butcher (125), Anthony Johnson (285), Seth Kulakoski (103) and Quinton Hendrickson (140) all have loser-out matches to start.

Freshman Brenton Beard (119) is the Tigers' top seed, fresh off a runner-up finish at districts. After a bye, he'll face either John Weaver of Wapato or Garrett Santana of Riverside.

Anthony Johnson (112) and Ryan Cross (145) wrestle pig tail winners to start, while Kurt Nygard (130) opens with Clarkston's Jeremy Abel. Tyson Hubbard (135) takes on West Valley-Spokane's Quinn Gannon.

At 160, Robert Motzkus opens with Clarkston's DJ Darnall. At 171, Brady Beard gets Tanner Symons of Riverside. At 215, freshman Deion Ducksworth gets Wes Ostby of Riverside.

Some might think Warden's victory over South Central Athletic Conference East Division rival Royal at last weekend's district tournament was an upset, but not Cougars coach Rick Bowers.

"I was pleased but not really surprised," Bowers said. "I told the kids we were capable of doing it, and it would be done in the consolation rounds."

That's exactly what transpired. Two-time defending 1A state champ Royal had eight individual champions to Warden's one, but the Cougars qualified 16 to regionals to the Knights' 14, winning the tournament 340-331.

Royal coach Ben Orth credited Warden for a solid weekend, but knows his team is perfectly capable of qualifying all its regional participants for Mat Classic. The top five at each weight are headed to Tacoma.

"Warden wrestled very well and it's a good format for them to be able to put a lot of points on the board," Orth said. "We've got to win those regional championships so we get good seeds going into state. I'm confident we're going to have a good tournament."

The Cougars' lone district champ, 130-pounder Robert Pruneda, starts his regional ride against Tyler Slick of Naches Valley.

Orth believes the East Division's best will get challenges from West Division powers Granger, Goldendale and Zillah, "but I think you'll see Royal and Warden go 1-2."

Royal's eight district champs include 112-pounder Hernan Cortez, who opens with Zillah's Jacob Rosas. Juan Esquivel (119) has Jesse Fredrickson of Naches Valley, and Sam Villegas (145) takes on Clive Bailey of White Swan.

At 152, Royal's Angel Ledezma matches up with Zillah's Omar Ochoa. Mitch Christensen (171) gets Mabton's Damien Marquez and Hector Ledezma (189) has Zillah's Nathaniel Dierdorf. T.J. Hunt (215) and Edgar Montoya (285) both get Naches Valley foes - Hunt against Ryan Gifford and Montoya against Ashton Gottschalk.

Other Warden matchups include Carlos Gomez (103) against Granger's Abisai Lopez; Franky Jimenez (112) against Granger's Joe Salcedo; Jonny Guerra (112) against Zillah's Skylor Davis; Jesse Guerra (125) versus Granger's Damien Altamirano; 135-pounder Kameron Tamayo with Highland's Forrest Kopta; 135-pounder Chris Kalous with Mabton's Arturo Nunez; 140-pounder Lupe Landeros against Zillah's Chris Castillo; 145-pounder Kevin Tursio with Cle Elum's Derick Brickman; Arturo Martinez (152) with Cle Elum's Cody Chiles; Scott Phillips (160) versus Mabton's Angelo Salinas; 171-pounder Jose Gonzales against Cle Elum's Drew McCoy; 171-pounder Dakota Scott against Zillah's Kane Koerner; Isaac DeLeon (189) with Granger's Guillermo Galeno; Joey Massa (215) with Granger's Josh Gamez; and 285-pounder Tony Martinez against Jacob Stiles of Naches Valley.

Royal's other first-round matchups are: Hank Ellis (103) against Jonathan Salcedo of Granger; Ethan Tonnemaker (112) against Jeremy Wolfe of Goldendale; Omar Avelar (130) against Jose Perez of Highland; 140-pounder Luke Tonnemaker with Zillah's Rodney Treece; 189-pounder Jacob Christensen with Zillah's Rafael Guzman; and 215-pounder Lucas Warren with Naches Valley's Bryan Jones.