Bulldogs claim title as Huskies finish 2nd
WAPATO, Wash. — After finishing 6-3 in Central Washington Athletic Conference dual meet competition, the Othello Huskies proved this weekend they are dangerous in a tournament atmosphere.
Despite a fourth-place finish during CWAC dual meet competition, Othello head coach Ruben Martinez said he had confidence in his team.
“We finished fourth in (the) league,” he said. “But, we knew we had a good tournament team.”
Martinez was right about his Huskies.
The Huskies capitalized on three district champions and 11 regional qualifiers to push Othello to 246 team points and a second place finish behind champion Ellensburg (252 team points) at the district tournament in Wapato Friday and Saturday.
Othello’s first champion came at 135 pounds when Reuben Lopez earned a 3-1 decision over Quincy’s Manny Ybarra to claim the district championship.
After Lopez claimed the 135-pound title, Othello’s Armando DeLeon went to work at 140 pounds. DeLeon controlled Tait Tucker of Ellensburg for their entire match Saturday to earn a 6-4 decision and the 140-pound title.
Lopez’s and DeLeon’s victories gave the Huskies back-to-back titles.
Othello’s third and final champion came at 152 pounds when Tyson Alvarez earned an 8-4 decision over Ellensburg’s Tyler Coates.
Martinez said his team wrestled well over the weekend.
“We were in position to win it,” he said. “Friday night was probably our best round all year. We though we could have won (the tournament).”
Although his team couldn’t stop Ellensburg from claiming their third consecutive district title, Martinez said the future is bright for his Othello program.
“We are so young,” he said. “I told the kids and parents we are just going to get better, … (but) we (still) have a lot of work ahead of us.”
The Huskies weren’t the only CWAC team from the Columbia Basin to perform well over the weekend.
The Quincy Jacks had back-to-back champions of their own at 160 pounds and 171 pounds and rode eight regional qualifiers to a fourth-place finish.
Quincy’s first champion came at 160 pounds when Breck Webley pinned Ephrata’s Chris Davidson in 1:05 to grab Quincy’s first title. Baldo Valdovinos followed Webley’s pin with a 7-6 decision over Toppenish’s Nick Alverado for the 171-pound crown.
Quincy’s bid for three-consecutive champions fell short at 189 pounds when Grandview’s Adam Morales pinned Quincy’s Michael Reyes in 5:32. The Jacks were 2-3 in championship matches Saturday, falling at 125 pounds (Tim Silvas), 135 (Ybarra) and at 189 (Reyes).
While the Jacks and Huskies had multiple wrestlers claim district titles, the Ephrata Tigers had to settle for one district champion.
Ephrata’s lone champion came at 145 pounds when Quinton Henderickson earned a 6-1 decision over Selah’s Chris Rowe.
Although Henderickson was the only Tiger to claim a district crown, Ephrata finished with seven regional qualifiers, including two runner-up finishes. One from Davidson at 160 pounds and the other from Deion Ducksworth at 215.
The top six placers from the district tournament qualified for the 2A regional championship this weekend in Ellensburg.
While the top six finishers automatically qualified, the seventh-place finishers must compete in a wrestle-in match to earn the final tournament spot in each weight class.
Team Scores
1) Ellensburg 252; 2) Othello 246; 3) Toppenish 229.5; 4) Quincy 206.5; 5)Ephrata 194.5; 6) Selah 160.5; 7) East Valley 159.5; 8) Grandview 98.5; 9) Wapato 92; 10) Prosser 89.
Championship Results
103) Santos Guillen (Grandview) def. Armando Hernandez (Toppenish) 9-1. 112) Konnor Hopkins (East Valley) def. Isiaah Garza (Toppenish) 4-2. 119: Osmar Jaimez (Prosser) def. Julian Romero (Toppenish) 10-3. 125) Kenny Sanders (Ellensburg) def. Tim Silvas (Quincy) 8-6. 130) Robert Espinoza (Sselah) pinned Mason Yates (East Valley) 3:58. 135) Reuben Lopez (Othello) def. Manny Ybarra (Quincy) 3-1. 140) Armando DeLeon (Othello) def. Tait Tucker (Ellensburg) 6-4. 145) Quinton Henderickson (Ephrata) def. Chris Rowe (Selah) 6-1. 152) Tyson Alvarez (Othello) def. Tyler Coates (Ellensburg) 8-4. 160) Breck Webley (Quincy) pinned Chris Davidson (Ephrata) 1:05. 171) Baldo Valdovinos (Quincy) def. Nick Alverado (Toppenish) 7-6. 189) Adam Morales (Grandview) pinned Micheal Reyes (Quincy) 5:32. 215) Josh Cole (Ellensburg) def. Deion Duckworth (Ephrata) 18-5. 285) Blake Nichols (Ellensburg) def. Richie Rodriguez (Selah) 10-2.
3rd-4th Place Results
103) Irving Jamiez (Prosser) def. Jose Barrera (Toppenish) 8-4. 112) Aaron Arredondo (Toppenish) def. Levi Needles (Selah) 3-0. 119) Liston Idler (Ellensburg) pinned Jake Smith (Othello) 4:55. 125) Matt Jordan (Othello) pinned Ammon Stancliff (Toppenish) 2:04. 130) KiKi Rebuelta (Othello) def. Miguel Montiel (Toppenish) 3-1. 135) Kenny Garza (Wapato) def. Kurt Nygard (Ephrata) 7-2. 140) Josh Cruz (Selah) def. Rafael Osorio (Toppenish) 14-10. 145) Eddie Garza (Othello) pinned Alex Harvill (Ephrata) 4:58. 152) Andre Uribe (East Valley) def. Andres Chavez (Toppenish). 160) Jose Martinez (Wapato) def. Daniel Walker (Othello) 11-5. 171) David Godinez (Prosser) def. Willie Hayes (Selah). 189) Joey Gomez (Othello) def. Ricardo Ayala (Toppenish) 9-3; 215) Justin Dellinger (Ellensburg) pinned Lucas Velasquez (Wapato) 1:42. 285) Max Melbourn (Quincy) pinned Sid Breckenrdge (Ellensburg) 1:57.
5th-6th Place Results
103) Nikko Rodriguez (Selah) pinned Eddie Cuevas (Ellensburg) 2:18. 112) Tony Lee (Quincy) def. Tyler Childs (Ephrata) 7-5. 119) Anthony Bush (Ephrata) def. Carlos Magana 3-0.125) Jesus Valencia (Ephrata) def. Eduardo Montes (Othello) 11-4. 130) Armando Herrera (Quincy) def. Colby Coates (Ellensburg) 15-2. 135) Garrett Walker (Grandview) pinned Kamal Qteishat (Ellensburg) 3:46. 140) Jimmy Wilson (East Valley) def. Eddie Galindo (Grandview). 145) Jeremy Standfill (East Valley) def. Benjamin Velasquez (Prosser). 152) Keaton Webley (Quincy) def. Cenon Gomez (Toppenish) 7-4. 160) Tyler Noble (Selah) def. Ben Simpson (Ellensburg) 6-3. 171) Francisco Padilla (Wapato) pinned Ryan Depaz (Selah) 1:55. 189) Devin McCrary (Ellensburg) def. Jakob Moser. 215) Luis Hernandez (East Valley) pinned Dylan Garza (Othello) :21. 285) Luis Rodriguez (Toppenish) def. Isaiah Littlebull (Wapato).