Royal, Wahluke each sending one to girls state wrestling

Brea Diaz of Royal applies pin pressure to an opponent from Othello in an early match at 124 pounds at the regional wrestling tournament at Wahluke High School last Saturday. She made it all the way to finals, taking second place and a ticket to state.

by Royal Register Editor & Ted Escobar
| February 25, 2014 5:05 AM

MATTAWA - The tough Eastern Washington Girls Regional High School Wrestling Tournament at Wahluke High School last Saturday was not overly fruitful for Royal and Wahluke, but both schools managed to get one wrestler off to state.

The state tournament will be held Friday and Saturday at the Tacoma Dome. Brea Diaz will represent Royal, and Asusana Bartolo will represent Wahluke.

It was the first time for a tournament of this magnitude in Mattawa. School officials were excited and worked hard to pull off a notable effort.

The tournament brought together schools of all classifications in eastern Washington. They included Pasco and Sunnyside, but a little school, class 1A Warden, won the title.

The Cougars ran away with the championship, scoring 177 points to the 136 points of second place Sunnyside. Othello finished third with 123 points, Wahluke took eighth with 44, and Royal captured 13th with 28.

Warden qualified seven girls, including three regional champions, for the state tournament.

Diaz nearly pulled off a title for Royal at 124 pounds. She defeated all challengers until she faced Sydney Virgen from Chiawana of Pasco in the finals. She missed the title by a score of 3-2.

Bartolo had to scramble to get to state at 137 pounds. After dropping an early match, she came back to take fourth place. She lost the match for third place, but she was already in for state.

Diaz and Bartolo may not be the only two South County girls going to the Dome. One from Royal and four from Wahluke won their final matches to become alternates for state.

Alternates attend the meet in case someone who finished higher at regionals falls out because of injury or disqualification.

Alternates for Wahluke are Jessica Rivera, 190, Jennifer Aznaran, 235, Victoria Gaytan, 170, and Eva Herrera, 155. The first three won their final matches by pin.

Meghan Mianecki, 106, is the alternate for Royal. She also won her fifth place match by pin.