Othello grabs Dream Duals title
SPOKANE — The Othello Huskies dominated the East Valley junior varsity team 56-15 and held off the Cheney Blackhawks 50-21 to set up a Dream Dual wrestling match with the Riverside Rams.
The Huskies dominated the East Valley junior varsity team in the first round, winning 11 of 14 matches to set up a showdown with Cheney. Othello wrestled East Valley’s junior varsity team, a 4A squad, because North Thurston pulled out of the tournament, said Othello head coach Ruben Martinez.
After dispatching East Valley, the Huskies battled the Blackhawks.
Othello fell behind early when Gilberto Villa fell at 103 pounds and Francisco Maldonato was pinned at 112 pounds. Othello faced a 12-0 deficit after two matches before senior Jake Smith got the Huskies on the scoreboard with a 14-2 decision. Matt Jordan followed Smith’s win with a first-round pin to help Othello cut the deficit to 12-0 after four matches.
The Huskies fell behind 15-0 following a loss at 130 pounds.
Othello would go on to win the next five matches to take a 32-15 lead over Cheney. Cheney responded with a fall at 171 pounds. However, the Huskies would earn falls in each of the final three matches to knock off the Blackhawks 50-21.
The win over Cheney set up a meeting with the Riverside Rams.
Martinez said his team was sluggish Saturday morning before catching fire in the 2A championship match with Riverside.
“We didn’t wrestle very well in the morning,” he said. “We wrestled really well (later on). We were just on fire.”
The Huskies began their meet with Riverside with a pair of quick pins to take a 12-0 lead, Martinez said.
“I don’t think we were expecting to beat Riverside,” he said. “(But) we did what we wanted to do. We wanted to wrestle well against Riverside.”
The Rams recovered at 119 pounds with a 2-0 decision over Smith to cut the Othello lead to 12-3. Jordan earned a 17-10 decision at 125 pounds for a 15-3 Othello advantage.
Othello would roll to victories at 135 pounds, 140 pounds, 152 pounds and 160 pounds for a 33-12 lead. However, the Rams would not be denied as Riverside earned four victories to close out the match for a 33-33 tie.
Because the dual meet ended in a tie, Martinez said the champion was awarded by criteria. The first criterion coming by total victories in the dual. Othello and Riverside each won seven matches.
The second criterion to decide a winner was total pins. Othello and Riverside each finished with four pins.
The third criterion was total unsportsmanlike conduct penatlies accumulated. Neither Othello nor Riverside accumulated any unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
The fourth criterion to determine a winner was total 3-point near falls accumulated. Othello accumulated three while Riverside had only two.
After four criteria, the Huskies defeated the Rams.
Martinez said he was proud of the way his team competed against Riverside.
“I was very proud,” he said. “It was a great win for us.”