Moses Lake records eight pins in rout of Eastmont

MOSES LAKE - The lights dimmed, "Eye of the Tiger" crackled in though the speakers and Moses Lake streamed into the gym.

Wrestling season had officially begun.

"It's fun, man," head coach Jaime Garza said. "These kids have fun. I have fun coaching with them, but they put in a lot of work and so we try and make sure that we do the best job of presenting a good dual. But with that being said, those kids are having a blast and we knew that Eastmont was going to have a few tough kids and our hands were going to be full at a couple weights, but outside of that I was pleased with the way they performed."

After the Moses Lake Jamboree served as a wrestling appetizer Tuesday, the main course proved to be the Eastmont Wildcats.

Despite falling behind 12-0 early on, Moses Lake rattled off five straight pins to take a 30-11 lead. Eastmont was docked a point for an unspecified penalty.

With his top wrestlers on deck, Garza didn't pay the early deficit any mind.

"I don't want to say I was concerned," he said. "I knew where we were at ... I was looking forward to the match at 113 (pounds). Though our kid was a freshman and that kid was a senior, I was still excited for that match."

State champion Trey Long and state runner-up Cooper McCullough set the tone with back-to-back first round pins.

The Chiefs continued the trend with three more pins that was broken when Chase Clasen scored a 15-5 major decision.

Hudson Mauseth resumed the pin parade after some sideline instruction from Garza.

Mid-way through the second round, Mauseth controlled his opponent near the edge of the mat but couldn't maneuver him into a pin. Garza instructed him to let his opponent up and no more than 10 seconds later Mauseth scored a resounding pin.

"The kid wasn't opening up and sometimes when a wrestler doesn't open up it's best just to get him back on our feet and Hudson is an explosive wrestler," Garza said. "He has the capability of taking a guy down and taking him all the way to his back and that's what we were looking for and he was able to do that."

Nico Hernandez followed Mauseth's performance with a technical fall to push the Moses Lake lead to 45-14.

Dylan Morris and Justin Sainsbury scored back-to-back pins and Moses Lake concluded its first dual in dominant fashion.

However, Garza's knows all duals - and especially all tournaments - won't come this easy.

"We're going to run into Sunnyside and we're going to have ourselves a little barn burner, especially at the lighter weights," he said. "It's going to be a close dual and I'm excited for that match and I hope we're ready to get going."

Moses Lake wrestles Sunnyside on the road Dec. 11.