Jacks' strength too much for Tigers

QUINCY 42

EPHRATA 27

QUINCY - One has to ask...what if Quincy High School had a full roster of wrestlers?

After the Jacks' convincing 42-27 Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) victory over rivals Ephrata last night, it would be only fair to inquire about the possibilities as they won eight of the 10 matches that wrestled out.

"We're kind of in the middle of a transition," Quincy head coach Greg Martinez said. "Two years ago we had a really great team with seniors galore. Maybe we can find some heavier weights in the future if we continue to create some excitement. The kids wrestle as hard as they can. We focus on the positives and do what we can."

Quincy's win was aided by pins from Ben Horning, Gerardo Guzman and Christian Alejandrez while overcoming three forfeit losses at 171, 215, and 285-pounds.

"We give up 18 points every match," Martinez said.

Ephrata's victory came via a pin by Curtis Treiber and Tyler Childs' narrow decision win.

"Overall we are physically outmatched strength-wise," Ephrata head coach PJ Anderson said. "We got hit in the face a little bit tonight. I told the kids it's a long hard road to getting good and we hit a big pot hole tonight. They beat us up pretty good."

Quincy got on the board first behind Uriel Heras' 11-2 win at 125-pounds over Jesus Valencia.

Heras came out and dictated action in the first round but could only build a 2-0 lead after the first two minutes.

The Tiger looked to take over momentum in the early stages of the second round before Heras recaptured it once again.

Yet, Carter wouldn't go easily, scoring a reversal to cut the gap to 4-2 midway through the round before Heras bumped it back up to 6-2 at the buzzer.

The Jack then asserted himself in the third round scoring five quick points to secure the win.

"He's probably the most technically sound wrestler on our team," Martinez said. "You can see that he is not real strong but he has a lot of heart and he knows what he is doing."

The Jacks bumped up their lead to 7-0 after a 9-4 win by Gabe Herrera over Seth Kulackoski at 130-pounds.

Both wrestlers exchanged brief glimpses of control before Herrera closed with a 4-2 lead after the first round.

Kulackoski moved his way into a 4-4 tie after the middle round before Herrera got serious.

The Quincy wrestler took it to his Tiger opponent and maintained dominance in the final round to complete the win.

"The bad part is that he cut down three pounds today to cut weight," Martinez said. "To wrestle like that after going through all of that shows a lot of heart."

Ephrata fell further behind when Gerardo Guzman (135-pounds) pinned Zack Dwyer, and Quincy led 13-0.

Guzman fell behind early at 4-0 but roared back to take the lead behind six unanswered points, just missing a pin opportunity as Dwyer staved off the fall for 25 seconds and the buzzer sounded.

Despite a second chance to stay alive in the match, Dwyer struggled to overcome the stronger Jack, falling behind 16-6 over the next two minutes as Guzman was again denied a pin by the buzzer.

Guzman wrapped up the win with the elusive pin at 1:07 of the third round.

"He's one of our JV wrestlers we stuck in our lineup," Martinez said. "He caught our eye in the Othello match. When he gets a chance he proves himself. You would never guess the kid is a wrestler he is quiet but when he turns it on you know he really is one."

Manny Ybarra scored a forfeit win for Quincy at 140-pounds while at 145-pounds, Johnny Navarro survived a late scare to defeat Kyle Pohle, 5-2, and give the Jacks a 22-0 lead.

Navarro stormed out to a 4-0 first round lead and would maintain control for the next three minutes before Pohle made a late push, scoring on a reversal. 

"That was one of the grinding matches," Martinez said. "Johnny did what he had to and wrestled well. I'd like to see him do more in the third period though."

Horning took control early and often before finally closing out Bryce Unruh with a third-round pin at 152-pounds.

"Horning is the man," Martinez said. "Conditioning-wise I have never seen the kid tired. They created a Workout Warrior award for him at the Washington Intensive Camp this summer." 

The Jacks wouldn't let up, as Antonio Melendez took a 12-2 decision over Dalton Balentine at 160-pounds.

Melendez kept up the Quincy momentum as he came out strong against the Tiger to build a 7-2 lead after the first two rounds and he rode that strong start to the victory.

"He's only a freshmen and he has unlimited potential," Martinez said.  "He also took a cut today so to be that dedicated and come out and wrestle that well makes me excited about his potential."

Jacob Green earned Ephrata's first points via forfeit win at 171-pounds.

Ephrata carried the forfeit over to 189-pounds, where Treiber recorded a resounding first-round pin over Jayden Elmore.

"Curtis is a senior that puts his time in the weight room," Anderson said. "His match in particular came when we were on our heels at that point. He came out and stopped the bleeding. It's nice to have him as a leader."

Back-to-back Quincy forfeits pulled the Tigers to within 32-24 with three matches left to go.

Deion Duckworth (215-pounds) and Brandt Monson (285-pounds) earned the free six-pointers for Ephrata.

"With a freshman at 103 and Martinez being a good wrestler...," Anderson said. "I didn't set an expectation but it was make or break."

Gabe Martinez (103-pounds) pushed Quincy closer to victory with a resounding 13-1 win over Rolo Padron as the Jacks built a 36-24 lead.

"This is going to be his breakout season," Greg Martinez said. "Last year Gabe weighed between 86 and 99 pounds but now he is getting his weight up and we are seeing the fruits of his being at the right body weight."

The victory was then in hand for Quincy after Alejandrez pinned Eli Perez.

Sensing the pending team win, Alejandrez came out guns and muscles ablazing as he took it to Perez from the get go for a 7-0 lead in the first 40 seconds before wrapping up the match with the pin at :22.

"He's had a pretty good season," Greg Martinez said. "His greatest attribute is that when he believes and he wants, he gets. He doesn't waste any time and he goes for it."

The last match of the night saw Tyler Childs knock of Quincy's Hector Avalos 2-0.

"Tyler was working hard and he hit some good positions," Anderson said. "Tyler managed the match well and didn't get crazy."

When the final buzzer sounded it was Quincy who walked out winners but the visiting Tigers still had a lot to be optimistic about.

"This was an eye opener for a lot of the kids that hadn't been on the varsity mats," Anderson said.  "We wanted to take a shot at Quincy. They fought to win and they showed a lot of effort. I was pleased with the effort. But they got to see this part of it and now they have to show they will be able to bounce back."

OTHELLO 49

East Valley 22

YAKIMA - The Othello Huskies remaining unbeaten in CWAC competition with a resounding 49-22 win in Yakima last night against hosts East Valley.

"We wrestled extremely well tonight and the kids came out and fought hard," Othello head coach Ruben Martinez said. "We had a few kids get down a weight class and that made us stronger as a team."

No individual match information was available at press time.