Moses Lake begins wrestling season with jamboree

MOSES LAKE - Wrestling was welcomed back by a raucous crowd at Moses Lake High School Tuesday night.

The Chiefs played host to Columbia Basin Big Nine rival Wenatchee, Othello and Cashmere at the Moses Lake Jamboree.

"It's awesome, it's a good kick off for the season," Trey Long said. "Gets everything going."

Moses Lake began the exhibition against Wenatchee. Despite not having their full compliment of varsity wrestlers, the Chiefs looked impressive.

"I thought we wrestled well," head coach Jaime Garza said. "But there's some things we need to work on."

Reigning state champion Trey Long pinned his opponent twice in the first round.

"It's kind of weird that we had a different kind of period style so we can pin people twice and it's a good change, but still got to focus on my main job to get ready for the real season, which starts Thursday," Long said.

State runner-up Cooper McCullough and Chase Clasen, who took third in state last year, scored wins by over 10 points.

Nico Hernandez and Hudson Mauseth also notched wins against the Panthers.

Several younger wrestlers were able to see some varsity action Tuesday. Freshmen Thomas Hamm, Christian Knopp, Hunter Cruz and Beau Mauseth all showed promise in the limited action of the jamboree format.

"Those young guys that came through and wrestled for us, I thought they did a great job," Garza said.

Knopp, Cruz and Beau all walked off the mat with a win against Wenatchee.

"They did what we've been showing them and that was nice to see," Garza said.

Sophomore Adrian Suarez also scored a win for the Chiefs.

Moses Lake begins its regular season Thursday at home against Eastmont.

Long and the Chiefs are eager to start a season and inch closer to their return to the Tacoma Dome.

"I'm just focused on certain tournaments like Tri-State and the postseason," Long said. "Hopefully do as well as I want and I have the same goal as last year, go for that state title."