Royal sending baker's dozen to Mat Classic XX

Warden qualifies 12, Moses Lake nine for state wrestling tournament

ZILLAH - The Royal High School wrestling team didn't have its best performance at the South Central Athletic Conference East Division championships, but the Knights certainly redeemed themselves over the weekend at the Class 1A Region III meet.

Royal avenged a loss to East rival Warden at districts, posting 244 points to easily outdistance the second-place Cougars on Saturday for the regional title. The Knights are sending 13 wrestlers to this weekend's Mat Classic XX state tournament at the Tacoma Dome, while Warden scored 162.5 points and will take 12 competitors.

The Knights took home five individual championships, beginning with 119-pounder Juan Esquivel. The sophomore finished his three-match run with a 16-4 major decision over Mabton's Eric Meza.

Royal's Sam Villegas (145) won his division with an injury default decision over River View's Kyle Buck. Angel Ledezma (152) took out Goldendale's Caleb Ferch 8-2, Hector Ledezma (189) was a forfeit winner over teammate Jacob Christensen, and T.J. Hunt (215) rolled to an 18-12 victory against Naches Valley's Bryan Jones.

The state championship brackets were released Sunday, and Esquivel will face Winlock's A.J. McKnight in the first round on Friday at 10:30 a.m. Villegas is matched with Bellevue Christian senior Nathanael Sleight at 11:30 a.m. Angel Ledezma opens with Bubba Myers of La Center at 11:50 a.m., Hector Ledezma gets Orting's Jon Backus at 12:30 p.m., and Hunt grapples with Orting's Zack Sowards at 12:40 p.m.

Warden's highest placer was Robert Pruneda, who finished second after a 4-2 loss to Granger's Sammy Salcedo. Pruneda faces Orting's Arthur Fetter on Friday at 10:50 a.m.

Cougars Chris Kalous (135), Arturo Martinez (152), Scott Phillips (160) and Joey Massa (215) placed third in their respective weights. Massa pinned Kiona-Benton's Britt Samsel at 1:31 of his final match. Phillips pinned Mabton's Angelo Salinas at 2:18, Martinez was a 10-1 winner over Granger's Humberto Morales, and Kalous beat River View's Scott Sullivan 8-1.

On Friday, Kalous faces Marshall Petrovich of Forks, Martinez is paired with Okanogan's Devin Otis, Phillips gets Brien Jaksha of Forks, and Massa takes on Tenino's John Swidecki.

Royal's Hernan Cortez was second at 112 after a 9-5 defeat to Zillah's Skylor Davis. Cortez faces Vashon Island's Eddie Protzeller in Friday's first round. Teammate Luke Tonnemaker (140) was second after a 14-4 loss to Zillah's Chris Castillo, and gets Tanner Bolt of Kettle Falls to open.

Edgar Montoya was third for the Knights at 285, winning his last bout 5-3 over Jacob Stiles of Naches Valley. Mitch Christensen got third at 171, pinning Zillah's Kane Koerner at 2:27. Omar Avelar grabbed the No. 3 spot at 130 by downing Cle Elum's Walter Boehme 12-5.

Montoya next faces Castle Rock's Beau Radach, while Christensen gets Stevenson's Jesse Brown and Avelar is pitted against Tylor Labelle of Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls.

With the top five placers in each weight class moving on, other Royal qualifiers included Hank Ellis, fifth at 103, and Lucas Warren, fifth at 215.

Warden's Franky Jimenez, a state runner-up at 103 last year, barely qualified this year at 112, gutting out fifth place with a 2-0 win over Royal's Ethan Tonnemaker. Teammates Jesse Guerra (fourth at 125), Lupe Landeros (fourth at 140), Kevin Tursio (fifth at 145), Dakota Scott (fifth at 171), Isaac DeLeon (fourth at 189) and Tony Martinez (fifth at 285) are also bound for Tacoma.

YAKIMA - Moses Lake took away a pair of individual titles at Eisenhower High School, but couldn't keep up with the depth of Greater Spokane League powerhouse Central Valley in the team standings.

Central Valley earned the regional title with 197 points, 15 better than the Chiefs, who did knock off another GSL rival in University (third at 153.5). The top four individuals at each weight earned automatic state berths.

Senior Cody Hoiness was the champ at 140, using a first-period pin of Ferris's Scott Davis and a 4-2 decision over Shadle Park's Jacob Rittenhouse to reach the finals. There, he dusted off University's Ryan Zumwalt with a 15-5 major decision.

Fellow senior Tad Harman took the 285-pound class by storm. He knocked off Lewis and Clark's Andre Taylor 10-4 and pinned Mead's Cody Foote in 32 seconds before dispatching Central Valley's Colby Davis with a pin at 1:53.

In Friday's state openers, Hoiness takes on Olympia senior Franklin Kline at 11:20 a.m., while Harman goes up against Inglemoor sophomore Travis Bogard at 12:50 p.m.

Moses Lake's regional runners-up were 119-pounder David Peralez and 130-pounder Gabe Guzman.

Peralez reached the finals on the strength of a 12-2 win against Mead's Jeremy Burkhardt and a 6-3 win over Richland's Jacob Beiber. But University's Anthony Rivera bested Peralez in the finals, pinning him at 1:58.

Guzman opened in convincing fashion, taking out Mead's Jake Anderson with a 16-0 technical fall. He reached the finals with a 14-7 win against Richland's Jordan Manthei, but fell to University's Brian Owen in a 17-6 major decision.

On Friday, Peralez takes on sophomore Travis Metcalf of Graham-Kapowsin at 10:20 a.m., and Guzman gets Heritage senior Steven Loos at 11 a.m.

At 125, Moses Lake junior Tyler Vela and sophomore Ricco Moreno ended up battling for the right to go to state. Moreno earned the spot with a 14-12 decision, then went on to beat Pasco's Ezequiel Castro 10-5. Vela is the alternate at 125, beating Richland's Dustin Utecht 6-4 for fifth.

Freshman Brian Chamberlain continued his impressive run by taking the No. 3 spot at 171. Chamberlain fell 10-8 to Central Valley's Andy Wickstrom to start the tournament, but bounced back with decisions over Wenatchee's Jacob Sealby, Richland's Jeremy Knighten and Shadle Park's Bo Schuetzle.

Moreno will battle Graham-Kapowsin senior Ryan Johnson in Friday's first round (10:40 a.m.), while Chamberlain is paired with Redmond senior Cary Hooper (12:20 p.m.).

Cameron Chlarson (135), Thomas Pfeiffer (145) Josh Nielsen (160) all garnered the fourth and final spots to state.

Chlarson opened with a first-period pin of Ferris's Tyson Riehle, but dropped a 16-4 final to eventual champion Kevin Healy of Gonzaga Prep. He then pinned Central Valley's Justin Walker in the first period before losing a rematch with Riehle, 13-1.

Pfeiffer lost his opening match to Nick Bond, but got to state on the strength of a pin against Richland's Marco Nicacio and a 5-3 decision against Central Valley's Jordan Choate. Pfeiffer had a shot at third, but lost to University's Jacob Mason 10-8.

Nielsen was an 8-2 loser in his opener with Central Valley's Nick Stratton, but got untracked by downing Pasco's Mario Corrales (7-2) and Tito Gonzales of Davis (14-5). He lost a 1-0 decision for third to Stratton.

Chlarson matches up with Kentwood junior Cody Quinn on Friday at 11:10 a.m. Pfeiffer gets Decatur senior Spencer Kabalac at 11:30 a.m., and Nielsen wrestles Snohomish senior Richard Reed at noon.

Along with Vela, 135-pounder Seth Stones, 140-pounder John Silva and 189-pounder Spencer Fackrell all placed fifth at their weights, giving them the alternate's position to Mat Classic. Andrew Valdez (112) lost his bid for the alternate's spot, finishing sixth, while Parker Byington (152) was eliminated after two straight defeats.

SPOKANE VALLEY - Othello qualified six wrestlers for Mat Classic XX, while Central Washington Athletic Conference rivals Quincy and Ephrata qualified five and four, respectively, at the 18-team regional at West Valley High School.

Othello wound up fifth in the team standings with 115 points, while Quincy took seventh (84.5) and Ephrata was 12th (66). Great Northern League giant Deer Park won the regional title with 223 points. The top five at each weight qualified for state.

Huskie senior Michael Carmona won the 285-pound title by pinning Ellensburg's Blake Nichols at 1:18. Carmona also pinned Clarkston's Devin Norland and beat Cheney's Brandon Moseley 4-2, and will try to improve upon a seventh-place state medal from 2007 when he opens on Friday with Trever Lowery of Black Hills (1 p.m.).

His teammate, sophomore Reuben Lopez, took second at 130. Lopez reached the finals with a 12-4 victory against Rafael Osorio of Toppenish and a 7-5 victory over Quincy's Manny Ybarra. Lopez lost the title match to Selah's Carlos Torres, 6-3.

Othello's Kevin Smith (152) was third, bouncing back from a 20-11 loss to Clarkston's Gabe Hocum in the semis to take four straight matches, three of them by pin. The senior closed the tourney with a pin of Cheney's Austin Miller at 2:10.

Huskie freshman Amando DeLeon was fourth at 140, shrugging off a semifinal loss to eventual champion Matt David of Pullman. DeLeon earned his spot to state with a 2-1 win over Ellensburg's Tyler Carter.

Junior Jake Smith (112) and freshman Matt Jordan (119) both took the No. 5 seed to state. Smith got his spot with a 5-0 blanking of Quincy's Carlos Magana, while Jordan beat Ellensburg's Zach Heaton 6-0.

Othello's first-round matchups at state are as follows: Lopez wrestles Blaine's Kyler Mackowiak at 11 a.m.; Kevin Smith gets Michael Fujimori of River Ridge at 11:50 a.m.; DeLeon battles Klahowya's Joe Sawyers at 11:20 a.m.; Jake Smith has River Ridge's Zach Sheffield at 10:20 a.m.; and Jordan faces Nick Burnham of Black Hills at 10:30 a.m.

Quincy senior Dan Somers (135) had beaten Wapato's Kenny Garza for the district title a week earlier, but fell to the Wolves' junior in Saturday's regional final, 7-4. Somers still had the Jackrabbits' top individual finish, downing Othello's Kiki Rebuelta and Clarkston's Matt Powell along the way.

Sophomore Breck Webley (160) and freshman Manny Ybarra (130) both claimed the No. 4 seed in their weights, with Ybarra earning his state berth in a 2-1 decision over Medical Lake's John Daniels and Webley getting his by beating Ellensburg's Chris Yarwood 5-4.

Quincy's Armando Herrera was fifth at 125, getting to state with a 19-3 technical fall over Deer Park's Bryan Rhoads, and teammate Max Melburn did likewise at 215, pinning Justin Dellinger of Ellensburg at 2:30.

Quincy's first-round state matchups are as follows: Somers matches up with Ridgefield's Keenen Simons at 11 a.m.; Webley gets Steilacoom's Jordan Flynn at noon; Ybarra faces Sultan's Mikey Varnell at 10:50; Herrera has Ty Howard of Cedarcrest at 10:40 a.m.; and Melburn has regional champ Dan Escamilla of Selah at 12:40 p.m.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Ephrata's weekend was junior Quinton Hendrickson, who was the CWAC's No. 7 seed and had to wrestle an extra match just to get into the tournament. He made the most of his draw, winning five straight in the consolation bracket to place third at 140. Two of those wins came in overtime.

Senior Ryan Cross (145) also finished third, rebounding from a loss to eventual champ Yuder Pech of Toppenish to beat Cheney's Jason Skjothaug and Ellensburg's Chase Haberman.

Anthony Bush earned the No. 3 seed at 112 after also suffering a loss to the eventual champ, Toppenish junior Isaiah Garza. Bush blanked Othello's Jake Smith and pinned Cheney's Duncan Rhodes to end the tourney.

The Tigers' fourth No. 3 seed was freshman Brenton Beard, who took out Ellensburg's Zach Heaton and Riverside's Ryan Major in a pair of overtime decisions. Beard lost in the semifinals to Deer Park's Levi Zadorozny, the state's third-ranked 119-pounder.

On Friday, Hendrickson faces Fife's Dain Landholm at 11:30 a.m. Cross gets Sehome's Justin Santos at 11:40 a.m., Bush has Cedarcrest's Omar Arredondo at 10:20 a.m., and Beard faces Bellingham's Garrett Montanez at 10:30 a.m.

Two Warden wrestlers and one Moses Lake wrestler will participate in the girls' state championship meet, also at the Tacoma Dome this weekend.

Warden senior Chelsea Dinsmoor is one of the top seeds in the 119-pound division and received a first-round bye. In the quarterfinals, she'll face either Kentwood junior Antonio Navejas or Fife senior Megan Palmer.

Dinsmoor's teammates, senior Evelyn Martinez, is wrestling in the 130-pound bracket. Martinez faces Mount Baker sophomore Shanli Dillard in a first-round bout.

Moses Lake's Karly Zucker is one of the higher seeds at 130. The freshman gets a pass to the quarterfinals, where she'll face either Rochester freshman Liezl Mondoc or Lake Stevens senior Natasha Grow.