Othello wins 5th straight CWAC title

OTHELLO - Othello High School secured its fifth consecutive Central Washington Athletic Conference title last week after beating top rival, Toppenish 36-24.

The Huskies had to wrestle their way back in the contest after trailing 12-0 early.

Head Coach Ruben Martinez said he was not surprised by the quick lead that Toppenish took.

"We weren't worried about it because we knew there were three or four critical matches and once won got those wins we knew we would be all right," he said

A key to victory was consistency for the Huskies as they won seven straight matches, including a toughly contested 285 weight-class match up between two of the state's top heavyweights.

Othello's Bubba Ruiz, ranked second in the 2A classification and Toppenish's Robert Luna, ranked four, put on a show for the raucous crowd.

Ruiz won in a minor decision and put the Huskies up 22-12.

Martinez said the last minute loss to Moses Lake earlier in the week actually gave the Huskies the a boost in confidence that they needed to win in future matches.

"Honeslty, the key to winning tonight was the loss to Moses lake on Tuesday night," he said. "We needed that intensity, and it got everybody fired up."

Results:

106: Isaiah Barrera (OTH) p. Luis Torres, :23. 113: Alejandro Cardenas (OTH) d. Francisco Chavez, 16-0. 120: Alec Lauriano (OTH) d. Josue Rodriguez, 6-4. 126: David Godinez (TOPP) d. Reese Jones, 10-5. 132: Sergio Morales (TOPP) d. Manny Martinez, 3-2. 138: Steven Martinez (TOPP) d. Lorenzo Garza, 3-1. 145: Joey Escobar (TOPP) d. Danny Cantu, 9-5. 152: Zech Romero (TOPP) p. Abraham Gonzalez, 3:59. 160: Brent Evans (TOPP) p. Edgar Martinez, :19. 170: Caleb Villareal (OTH) d. Dominic Gonzalez, 8-7. 182: Jesus Montes (OTH) p. Luis Rojas, :33. 195: TJ Martinez (OTH) d. Isaac Anaya, 12-0. 220: Anthony Ruiz (OTH) p. Tommy Vijarro, 5:44. 285: Bubba Ruiz (OTH) d. Robert Luna, 8-1.