Chiefs host Wenatchee, Othello in jamboree

MOSES LAKE - Wednesday night's jamboree at Moses Lake High School provided a glimpse into the potential of Chiefs wrestling.

The Chiefs faced Wenatchee and Othello and although no team scores were kept, Moses Lake won the majority of its matches.

"The guys that were out there wrestled hard," head coach Jaime Garza said. "We had quite a few young guys out there wrestling representing our team right now. Obviously there's some things that we need to work on, the bottom position."

Garza had to insert several younger wrestlers into his rotation due to some wrestlers struggling with weight management. A total of eight wrestlers from Moses Lake were unable to compete in the jamboree because of weight issues.

"That's right now probably one of my biggest concerns is trying to figure out these kids and trying to get them on weight and for them to focus on that," Garza said. "There's been a lack of focus at times when it comes to the weight management, but it's a very important piece for these kids so they can get out and wrestle."

After facing Wenatchee, Garza felt the team needed to improve on escaping from the bottom position, coming out with a higher intensity level and scoring more efficiently on defense.

"The intensity needs to pick up," he said. "We need to be banging on guys being a lot more offensive than we were and scoring more effectively from our defensive, you know, when a guy shoots on them scoring from the defense and that's one thing that we definitely need to improve on from what I've seen so far."

Cooper McCullough (115 lbs.) defeated Wenatchee's Gerardo Delgadillo by a pin in the third period and defeated his Othello opponent 3-1. Sean Cotton (138 lbs.) defeated David Marquez, of Wenatchee, 4-0. Cotton also won his second match against Othello 12-2. Seniors Brendan Sanchez and Jordan Lacelle (220 lbs.) both recorded pins against Wenatchee and both won 12-2 and 3-0 against Othello, respectively.

"(Lacelle) should be giving it and getting after it day in and day out, every match," Garza said. "You can tell there's a difference and he has some confidence in there and that's nice."

Easton Castro (182 lbs.) defeated Wenatchee's Wyatt Long 6-0, but was defeated by Othello's premier wrestler Jesus Montes.

"Both guys were tough, both guys went to state," Garza said.

Moses Lake is back on the mat Dec. 12 to face Eastmont. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Moses Lake High School.