Young wrestling dynamo keeps on winning big
Keeping up the tradition of great Columbia Basin wrestling, Moses Lake's Everett Ashley (middle), 7, has taken the sport to heart and a winning approach to the podium on many occasions.
MOSES LAKE - Wrestling is the sport that rests on the top of the athletic food chain here in the Columbia Basin.
Starting at an early age, young boys and girls around Grant and Adams counties take part in the sport of local kings. Wrestling is this high desert's sport of choice and to many a rite of passage for future greatness.
One of those youngsters who has taken ahold of wrestling in his youth while also ascending to an elite level is Moses Lake's Everett Ashley, 7.
Ashley's fourth year of wrestling has been a bountiful one as he has recorded win after impressive win.
He captured his second consecutive individual Washington State Wrestling Association (WSWA) state title this year with a championship in the Bantam 75-plus folkstyle division.
Ashley earned a first-round bye before earning a 12-3 decision in the quarterfinals and from there he would roll with a first round pin in the semifinal to set up the championship match against Chris Hamblin.
In the final Ashley, who represents Ephrata Wrestling Club and is coached by P.J. Anderson, would pin Hamblin in the second round to claim the title.
"He's got a lot of great, natural, instincts and he works really hard for a kid that age," Anderson said. "On the mat he puts constant pressure on the other wrestler and is always coming forward. It's not normal at that age because a lot of kids are timid. There is nothing like that with him. He enjoys the sport and is constantly going at it."
Adding to his state title, Ashley also won the Oregon Classic Bantam 75-plus class on Jan. 14 and has gone undefeated in league matches.
He's even stepped up in weight class and won all but one of his exhibition matches in the 80-pound Intermediate division that consists of older athletes.
Ashley started his wrestling career under Tyson Hintz of the Jetts wrestling club in Moses Lake and participated in his first meet in Quincy,
"When the ref blew the whistle and told him to start wrestling, he started to jog around the mat like he did at the start of all of his wrestling practices," his mother, Kim Ries Ashley, said. "The other wrestler was running behind him. The referee stopped the match, brought them to the middle and told him to start wrestling. We called it his 'rope and dope.' He won that day."
The move to wrestling was natural for the young Ashley since his father and grandfathers had all participated in the sport and his family decided the youngster needed an "outlet."
Everett had also wrestled for the Moses Lake wrestling club for two years prior to joining forces with Anderson.
"Everett plans to wrestle in the Little Guys League after he takes a few weeks off," Kim Ries Ashley said. "In this league, he plans to participate in weekend tournaments throughout the area."
The league holds a state championship - the Jason Crawford Memorial - in Cheney and keep an eye out for Everett as he plans to return their to win another title to add to last year's he claimed as a six-year-old.
Once his hoped for mission is accomplished he plans on taking a respite on the diamond where he will keep playing his other favorite sport, baseball, this spring.
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