Chiefs regional champions

SPOKANE - The Chiefs weren't the favored team heading into the regional wrestling tournament at Central Valley High School in Spokane over the weekend. After all, they were going up against powerhouses Mead, Chiawana and the host Bears.

But Moses Lake made believers out of the competition as the Chiefs were crowned 4A Regional 4 Champion, and are sending 10 wrestlers to the Mat Classic State Tournament in Tacoma this weekend.

Moses Lake finished with a team total of 182 points. Mead High School was second with 156, Chiawana (154) , third, and Central Valley, fourth with 136 points. The top four wrestlers in their weight class advanced to Tacoma.

"The guys wrestled really well this weekend," coach Jaime Garza said. "We thought we had an outside chance to win it, but weren't the favorite by any means. The guys who had to fight their way back though the consolation brackets to place third and fourth were the difference makers for us."

Seventeen Chiefs entered the tournament Friday, and 10 were left standing, four of which, advanced to the final round Saturday. Jordan Lacelle, who missed out on his bid for district champion with a quadruple overtime loss to Kyle Hoffman from Eastmont last week, got sweet revenge with a 4-0 victory over Hoffman to claim title of best regional wrestler at the 195 weight class. He was the lone Chief to bring home championship hardware.

"Jordan wrestled a great match," Garza said. "He has really matured as a wrestler. At the beginning of the year, he was pretty much one dimensional. Now he is strong in all three phases and that has allowed him to be where he's at right now."

Three Moses Lake wrestlers placed second at the tournament. Trey Long (106) lost by a 6-1 decision to Fabian Wickham from Eastmont, Fernando Levya (113) was turned back by Central Valley's Bryson Beard, 4-2, and Hector Zavala (160) was pinned by Tyler McLean from Mead.

Battling their way back through the consolation bracket to make it to the big stage in Tacoma were third-place finishers Clayton Clark (106), Brad Fox (126), Brenden Sanchez (145), and Easton Castro (182). Also making the trip are fourth-place finishers Chase Classen (120) and Nico Hernandez (160).

"We knew these wrestlers were going to have some tough matches and would drop out of contention for a championship," Garza said. "And when they did, we told them to they needed to forget about it, stay focused and take care of business and they'll move on. They showed up, won some close matches and are now going to wrestle at the state tournament."

Joel Torres and Sean Cotton will serve a the Chiefs two alternates.

The teams to beat in the 4A classification are Lake Stevens and Tahoma, but with Moses Lake taking 10 to the Mat Classic, the Chiefs have a real shot at bringing home the state team championship if their wrestlers perform up to their capability.

The Mat Classic State Tournament is taking place Feb. 15 and 16 at the Tacoma Dome. The first round of competition gets under way Friday morning at 10 a.m.