Moses Lake hires new head wrestling coach

MOSES LAKE -Jaime Garza, 30, has been selected to take over the helm of the Moses Lake High School varsity wrestling program. He was hired to replace Jamie Wise who resigned in September.

This is Garza's first opportunity to coach at the high school level.

"I am extremely excited to be named the new head coach of the wrestling program," Garza said. "I am well aware of the pressure to produce championships, and am ready and willing to take on the challenge."

Garza was a state champion for the Chiefs in 1998 and runner-up in 2000. He wrestled on the collegiate level for Central Washington University for coaches Kevin Pike and Jay McGuffin, and is a member of the Chief Hall of Fame Class of 2007.

"Jamie is a great technician," Loren Sandhop, athletic director at Moses Lake High School, said. "He doesn't have experience coaching at the high school level, but has been coaching for the last five years with Ron Seibel at the Moses Lake Wrestling Club and last winter at Chief Moses Middle School. He has a lot of support from the wrestling community in Moses Lake, so I expect him to be successful."

Seibel was the head wrestling coach for the Chiefs from 1976 to 2004 and led Moses Lake to 17 state titles.

The Chiefs placed second and third under former head coach Jamie Wise, but have not won an overall state championship since Seibel retired.