Former Moses Lake wrestlers, coaches hold reunion

MOSES LAKE - Rainier Beach has basketball. Bellevue has football. Moses Lake has wrestling.

Described by former coach Jon Lane as "like a religion," wrestling is woven into the culture of Moses Lake unlike any other place in Washington.

To recognize that history, the first ever Moses Lake wrestling reunion was organized this year by the Zamora family and was held at Zamora Park this past Saturday.

It was a who's who of wrestling royalty between Lane, Dick Deane, Ron Seibel, Charlie Zamora, Mel and Vicki Olson and a host of others.

"It's one of a kind what we have here," said current Moses Lake head wrestling coach Jaime Garza. "In my opinion, there's no other like it. Just the amount of support we've had since the very beginning back from the 50s and you can see it.

"Yeah, we had a great turnout. I think the expectation is that it's going to continue to rise, the numbers will. Like I said, this Moses Lake tradition we have here is one of a kind."

Garza was a part of three state championship teams for Moses Lake and won an individual championship in 1998.

He now hopes to lead Moses Lake wrestling to its 18th state championship this season.

Zamora - legendary coach of the Moses Lake Wrestling Club - told a story of being reunited with former teammate Greg Leonard.

The two hadn't seen each other for half a century.

The sentiment that continued to echo was wrestlers aren't quite like other athletes.

"Wrestling people are a little different," Zamora said. "They bond really good. You get to know their moms and dads and it seems like everybody becomes one big family. You can see that here today. We all love each other."

After the group enjoyed their dinner, it was story time.

Garza wasn't sure about his favorite memory, but knew several would come to mind when the time for him to grab the microphone came.

"Just kind of the fun that we had traveling whether it was to California or Utah, Montana, Boise, Idaho ... Those trips are all memorable for many of the people that I wrestled with so all those stories will come up and we'll all laugh and giggle and hug each other and high-five each other," he said.

Although the turnout was a little smaller than Zamora expected - due to the amount of people invited - he was still pleased with the draw.

However, former coaches and wrestlers from across and the Cascades and out of state were still able to make the trip to the Basin, showing just how strong the pull of Moses Lake wrestling can be.

"When you get people that travel multiple hours to come out here and not just from the other side of the mountains - but from other states to be here - it shows you how different this program is in comparison to other programs throughout the state or just other programs in general across the county," Garza said. "It's profound, it's deep what we have here."

Zamora hopes to make this reunion an annual event.

"It's going to catch on and more people are going to find out about it and the turnout will be better I've got a feeling next time," he said.