Huskies enter CWAC tournament on a roll
COLUMBIA BASIN — A regular season Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) title in the books and now the Othello Huskies are readying themselves for some serious wrestling.
Othello, along with fellow conference members Quincy and Ephrata, embark to Ellensburg this weekend to take part in the CWAC District Tournament with spots for regionals on the line.
Coming off the high of a 38-24 win over Selah last week to clinch the regular season title, Othello will enter play — starting Friday at 3:30 p.m. with pig-tail matches — as the favorites.
“I like the way we are wrestling right now,” Othello coach Ruben Martinez said. “We also have six match-ups in the first round with some of our lower seeds that are common opponents. We have beaten most of them this year and hope that we can come out with the same results.”
Ephrata enters the tournament with some strong results at the end of the league schedule while Quincy has found some shining lights amongst its lineup that is now firing on all cylinders.
The top seven wrestlers in each class advance to regionals.
By Saturday, Columbia Basin wrestling fans should have a pretty good idea which CWAC wrestlers are still alive for a chance at a berth in this year’s Mat Classic.
Othello Huskies
District roster: 103-pounds: Gilberto Villa (third seed) and Anthony Barrera (fourth seed), 112-pounds: Lucas Garza (third seed) and AJ Garza, 119-pounds: David Saldivar and Colton Rodriguez, 125-pounds: Matt Jordan (second seed) and Joseph Gonzales, 130-pounds: Eduardo Montes (fourth seed) and Brandon Medina, 135-pounds: Reuben Lopez (top seed) and Eric Garza (fifth seed), 140-pounds: Matthew Melo and Enrique Romero, 145-pounds: Alfonso Guerra and Eric Alvarez, 152-pounds: Eddie Garza (second seed) and Anthony Villarreal, 160-pounds: Amando DeLeon (top seed) and Stevie Garza, 171-pounds: Daniel Walker (third seed) and Zach Overton, 189-pounds: Joey Gomez (second seed) and Alberto Vargas, 215-pounds: Michael Hawks and Tommy Valdez, 285-pounds: vacant.
Outlook: Lopez, DeLeon, Jordan, Walker, and Barrera are all state ranked wrestlers in their respective weight classes according to Washington Wrestling Report and all of them come in with high seeds and solid chances to advance to regionals.
“I felt pretty good about our draws,” Ruben Martinez said. “It is a numbers game now. We need to get 16 through to regionals and hopefully we can get two to three wrestlers battling for that seventh spot. We could possibly get 10 into the semifinals with a possible two more. We hope to get six to eight into the finals.”
Despite not having a heavyweight on their district roster no one should assume that Othello doesn’t weigh plenty on the minds’ of the opposition.
Especially with Jordan and Lopez both finishing fourth at the Class 2A state finals last year and DeLeon who took seventh in the 140-pound class.
With multiple top seeds, Othello’s chances to keep their strong season alive appear bright.
Ephrata Tigers
District roster: 103-pounds: Benjamin Carter and Mario Guzman, 112-pounds: Eli Perez, 119-pounds: Tyler Childs and Michael McDonnell, 125-pounds: Keaton Graffis and Seth Kulackoski, 130-pounds: Anthony Bush (second seed) and Kyle Pohle, 135-pounds: Tevin Hiatt, 140-pounds: Kurt Nygard (top seed), 145-pounds: Preston Hendrickson, 152-pounds: Robert Motzkus (fourth seed) and Andrew Sconce, 160-pounds: Chris Davidson (second seed), 171-pounds: Jacob Green, 189-pounds: Erik Guzman and Curtis Treiber, 215-pounds: Brandt Monson, 285-pounds: Mitchell Brown.
Outlook: Bush took eighth at 119-pounds in 2008 and that experience could go a long way for the Tiger as he faces the possibility of a championship match against Ybarra.
He, along with Davidson and Nygard, are all ranked in the Class 2A top 10 at their weight classes and that pedigree could help push the Tigers’ toward some valuable team points this weekend.
Motzkus rounds out the squads four top four seeded wrestlers heading into Ellensburg.
“I thought the seeding went as well as it was going to go,” Tigers’ coach PJ Anderson said. “Boys are placed about where they belong. There will be a lot of good wrestling this weekend. There is a positive feel in the room right now, and I’m excited to see them perform. The trick will be to not look past anyone, and turn it up against those who have beat us earlier in the season.”
Quincy Jacks
District roster: 103-pounds: Christian Alejandrez and Gabe Martinez, 112-pounds: Hector Avalos, 119-pounds: Justin Clifton and Uriel Heras, 125-pounds: Gerardo Guzman, 130-pounds: Manny Ybarra (top seed) and Garrett O’Shaughnessy, 135-pounds: Gabe Herrera and Jesus Chavarin, 140-pounds: vacant , 145-pounds: Jordan Medrano, 152-pounds: Ben Horning (top seed), 160-pounds: Breck Webley (fourth seed) and Keaton Webley, 171-pounds: vacant, 189-pounds: Baldo Valdovinos (fourth seed) and Mario Alcaraz, 215-pounds: Daniel Herrera (fourth seed), 285-pounds: Marcus Medina (fourth seed).
Outlook: Despite two vacant spots, Quincy believes it could be a threat by the end of the weekend.
“We definitely have a few kids that could make some noise,” Jacks’ coach Greg Martinez said. “I also believe we have a kid or two seeded fourth that could place higher than they are seeded.”
Ybarra will wrestle at 130-pounds following a second-place finish at state in 2009 amongst the 135-pound weight class, and he currently is rated number one at his current position.
Valdovinos is the other top 10 Quincy wrestler and is one of six top four seeded Jacks’ wrestlers.
Ybarra and Horning are the two top seeds heading into action this weekend.
Another potential twist could be at 160-pounds where brothers Breck and Keaton Webley could potentially face off.
“Overall the team has been working hard and I hope that districts is the first step of it all coming together for them,” Greg Martinez said. “From here on out it is about guts, determination, and believing you have worked hard enough to succeed.”