Chiefs victorious over Othello in Basin brawl, 29-27

OTHELLO - Moses Lake had trailed for the majority of the match.

The crowd at Pete Targarres Gym was raucous and chomping at the bit for a chance to see defending 2A state champion Othello topple the Moses Lake 4A giant.

Trailing by a single point, 26-27, senior co-captain Jordan Lacelle stepped onto the mat and squelched any ideas of a Chiefs loss.

Lacelle, who had bumped up to 220 pounds, handled Othello's Anthony Ruiz and secured a 29-27 come from behind win for Moses Lake with a 10-5 decision.

"I was just trying to stay focused 'cause I knew I could beat the kid," Lacelle said. "I beat the kid before so I knew I was going to beat him. I was just trying to score as many team points as I could."

After Tuesday night, the Chiefs have now defeated top ranked 4A Lake Stevens and 3A Sunnyside as well as third ranked 2A Othello, with every win coming on the road.

"Personally I wanted this one more than all the other ones," head coach Jaime Garza said. "I'm not from Othello, but all my family's from Othello... There was something tugging at me so I wanted this one bad."

The Huskies flexed their muscles early after second ranked Bubba Ruiz (285 .lbs) ignited the crowd after pinning Justin Sainsbury. The duel then shifted to the lightweights, Moses Lake's strength.

The second match of the evening pitted two wrestlers ranked first in the state for their respective classifications, Moses Lake's Cooper McCullough and Othello's Isaiah Barrera.

McCullough was able to walk away with a 5-1 decision, but not before narrowly avoiding a fall in the third round. With the crowd ready to erupt, Barrera seemingly had a pin until McCullough was able to contort himself out of trouble.

"I knew it was going to be a good match," McCullough said. "I knew (Barrera's) tough so I knew what I had to do. I knew how he was going to wrestle so we kind of prepared at practice."

The Chiefs took a 10-6 lead following wins by Trey Long (113 .lbs) and Fernando Leyva (120 .lbs). However, the home team was able to wrestle away momentum from the Chiefs after four straight wins. The Huskies' lead swelled to 24-10 when Danny Cantu scored a 9-7 overtime victory against Cyrus Knowles.

"If we could have won one of those matches or two of them it would've gave Cyrus a little break," Garza said. "Sometimes when the crowd's cheering for you you tend to step it up a little bit."

With the idea of a loss growing steadily, the Chiefs rattled off three straight wins of their own to cut the deficit to 22-24. Joel Torres began the rally with a 10-8 decision and Hudson Mauseth narrowly missed a fall, but still managed a 14-0 major decision. At 170 pounds, Nico Hernandez was able to pull the Chiefs to within two points after pinning Othello's Caleb Villareal.

"These guys came out with some gutsy wins," Garza said. "Torres and then Mauseth... Nico got a big pin, we needed that pin. That was big there."

Jesus Montes earned an 8-2 victory against Easton Castro, but the Chiefs' Dylan Morris countered with a 12-0 major decision to bring the Chiefs within one point with one match remaining.

With an opportunity to clinch the win, Moses Lake sent out Lacelle who slammed the door on the Huskies.

"Great position, couldn't have asked for a better one in a tight match like this," Garza said, "It was a comforting feeling to have him in there."

The Chiefs will face Columbia Basin Big 9 foe Davis 7 p.m. Thursday at home.