Moses Lake runs away with regional title

SPOKANE — The Moses Lake Chiefs wrestling team continued their quest for an unprecedented 18th state championship Saturday when they rolled to the Region IV tournament crown.

The Chiefs (204.5 team points) pushed their way past second place University (143.5 team points) thanks in part to four regional champions and 10 total state qualifiers.

Moses Lake head coach Jamie Wise was proud of the way his team battled at the regional tournament.

“The great part is that we wrestled very well,” he said. “We wrestled probably better than everyone expected us to.”

While Moses Lake ran away with the team title, Wise said the Columbia Basin Big Nine represented itself well against the Greater Spokane League (GSL).

“I think the GSL thought they were going to win a lot more matches than they did,” he said. “From listening to what some of the coaches said, they think we handled them pretty well.”

The Chiefs controlled the medal stands at the regional tournament and Wise said six regional finalists helped boost his team’s confidence.

“That was pretty big,” he said. “(With finalists) you are guaranteed that (trip to state) a lot earlier.”

Moses Lake’s first finalist came at 125 pounds when Ricco Moreno represented the Chiefs in the finals. However, Zach Nalley of Davis pinned Moreno in the second round to claim the 125-pound title.

Although Ricco Moreno didn’t win the regional championship at 125 pounds, freshman Nico Moreno claimed his first regional championship at 130 pounds when he earned a 5-3 decision over Columbia Basin Big Nine rival Krayson Gates of Wenatchee.

The Chiefs had another regional finalist at 145 pounds when University’s Ryan Zumwailt earned an 11-6 decision over senior Thomas Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer, who missed a significant part of the season with a broken ankle, will make his second consecutive trip to the Mat Classic state tournament.

Pfeiffer finished third at Mat Classic XX at 145 pounds.

With Pfeiffer’s loss at 145 pounds, the Chiefs fell to 1-2 in championship matches with senior Sammy Villegas set to wrestle for the 152-pound championship.

Villegas continued to dominate the 4A competition this season after spending the first three years of his high school career at 1A Royal, earning a state championship for the Knights in 2008.

Villegas controlled his championship match with Wenatchee’s Nick Hunt from the beginning whistle when he pinned Hunt at 1:56 of the first round.

This the second consecutive weekend that Villegas controlled Hunt for a 4A tournament championship. Villegas dominated Hunt during the championship match of last weekend’s district tournament in Wenatchee.

After Villegas’ title at 152 pounds, it would be three weight classes before another Moses Lake wrestler made it to the regional finals.

This time it was Moses Lake sophomore Brian Chamberlain’s turn in the finals and the district champion did not disappoint.

Chamberlain battled with Russell Stinson of Ferris for six minutes during their championship match before Chamberlain held off his oppontnt for the 5-3 decision.

With two championship matches remaining, the Chiefs sent their last finalist to the mat in senior Spencer Fackrell at 215 pounds.

Fackrell was coming off of a third-place performance at the district tournament last weekend and was determined to improve his seeding at the state tournament.

Fackrell didn’t disappoint the Chiefs when he earned a 3-2 decision over Jacob Trotter of Mead to give the Chiefs back-to-back titles at 189 and 215 pounds.

While the Chiefs had four regional champions, Wise said his entire squad helped clinch the team title.

“Everybody stepped up, it is too hard to narrow down,” he said. “All-in-all, you can’t say that one performance was better than the other.”

The top four regional placers earned automatic berths into the state tournament. Fifth-place finishers earned alternate spots. 

Moses Lake State Qualifiers and Regional Placers

• 103) Hayden Wise - Fifth (Alternate)
• 112) Andrew Valdez - Fourth
• 112) Robert Leyva - Fifth (Alternate)
• 125) Ricco Moreno - Second
• 130) Nico Moreno - First
• 135) Cameron Chlarson - Third
• 135) Jordan Bishop - Sixth (DNQ for State)
• 140) Tyler Vela - Fourth
• 145) Thomas Pfeiffer - Second
• 152) Sammy Villegas - First
• 189) Brian Chamberlain - First
• 215) Spencer Fackrell - First
• 285) Kabe Fluaitt - Third